A Dark Angel
by AunElZen
Summary: There are so many legends, But if the Maidens are real, and The Grimm Queen is real, why not more? One such legend is of a dark angel, a being for whom the cold embrace of death cannot hold them. Only once their business is complete can they make the final journey. But that could never happen, right?
1. Prologue

A Dark Angel

Prologue

In a back-alley in Vale, on the night the world went to hell, a rocket-locker crash landed.

A blonde figure stumbled out, desperately fumbling for his scroll.

Have to help her... Have to save her...

Ruby! She could help! He quickly called her and pleaded, begged her to do what she could, then he hung up and burst into frustrated tears. He punched a wall, his remaining aura flared at the impact and spider-web cracks appeared. Then he heard the growl.

Turns out, dropping into a grimm-infested city whilst in serious emotional pain wasn't the best idea.

He looked around, he was alone and out-numbered, but the narrow alley would work to his advantage. He drew his sword, readied his shield. He knew that even if he fought three times as well as he usually did, his lack of aura would lead to his defeat and death. He knew that without help he wouldn't last long.

He was right

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St. Bernard's Hospital, Vale

Bright lights...

"Another one for you" said a woman's voice.

"The fuck happened to this guy? And before you say anything, tonight is not a night for jokes" said another voice, a man's.

"You want the long or short version?" Said the woman.

"I'd like the long version... Don't even joke" The man said sternly

"You're no fun" Said the woman "Name; John doe, and from how it looks, it might stay that way unless we get something from a dental..." The woman trailed off.

"Not gonna happen tonight." Said the man.

"Judging from the fact he has aura and a weapon and armour, we think he's a hunter" The woman continued.

"Shit, another one" Said the man sadly "What's the damage?"

"I'm just getting to that" Said the woman "Starting at the top and working down; Severe trauma to the back of the head. Multiple lacerations of varying depth and width across the scalp and face. On the neck, also multiple lacerations, these have healed somewhat, but they aren't continuing to heal, so his aura is obviously completely drained."

"Will he bleed out from the carotids? The man asked

"That isn't a concern." The woman stated "The torso and shoulders were covered by armour, but it was so..." She paused, searching for the right word "Destroyed, that the person who found him had to use their aura just to pry the chestplate off."

"Damage to the torso?" Said the man.

"I was just getting to that." Said the woman irately "The left shoulder is broken in two places, the right shoulder appears to have either a very large claw or a medium sized fang sticking out of it. About an inch lateral to the neck, any closer and, shwoof!" She announced, gesturing with her off hand.

"Continue" Said the man.

"On the torso are multiple lacerations as well as a few puncture wounds. He also has seven broken ribs, at various locations on his ribcage." Said the woman, looking down at the patient. "Will he make it? _Can_ he make it?"

"You'd be surprised what I've seen people live through." Said the man, before hesitating "I will say that this is one of the more... extreme cases I've seen."

"Going to the abdomen, he has another claw or fang broken off about three inches caudal and one inch lateral to the bellybutton. As well as, you guessed it, more lacerations!" She said, almost jovially before noticing her colleague's glare and looking back at her clipboard. "Ahem, moving on to the limbs, these are probably in the best shape, the arms have severe bruising along most of their length, and both wrists are intact. No broken fingers, but also severe bruising on the knuckles of both hands. The legs are not in quite so good a shape, on the right side he appears to have broken both his tibia and fibula, and on the left he's torn his calf muscle. His thighs managed to escape untouched aside from severe bruising on both. Last but not least, both of his feet have been crushed."

Beyond repair?" Said the man, sadness again leaking into his tone.

The woman sighed "I wouldn't have said so, but, y'know, aura is a wonderful thing."

"That's part of what worries me" Said the man "His aura won't be able to help him, for the time being at least."

The man looked down at the patient. Still out cold, the damage he'd sustained... It didn't look good.

"Now comes the worst part." Said the man "I have to call the nearest hunter in to ID this kid, judging from his complexion I'd say he ain't from Vacuo. I'd guess he's a local boy. If that's the case, I know just who to call..."

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"What do you mean he isn't there? I'm looking right at him!" Said a tired, irritated voice "See! His eyes moved, he can hear me!"

"Mr Lie, the lights are on. But nobody's home" Said the woman from before. She looked down, unable to make eye contact. "He... he won't be coming back. You and your partner were called in so that you could say goodbye."

Another voice made itself known "No.." It said, barely above a whisper.

A small, feminine hand gripped the patient's left hand. "He can't leave us, he can't" Said the voice, clearly wavering "Jaune, please don't die. I'll dial it back a notch, I swear!"

"He can't hear you" Said the woman.

"Black... Birds... Are... Circling..." Came a raspy moan from the patient.

Then his heart-rate began to weaken, before flatlining completely. The doctors did all that they could, but it was hopeless.

30 hours after the death of his partner, Jaune Arc Died


	2. Point of Transition

Point of Transition

A tunnel with smooth, stone walls stretched before him. He looked behind himself, and all he could see was fog. "No sense just standing here." He sighed, and started walking forwards.

The tunnel continued, but now he could tell something was off, he couldn't feel temperature. The sounds of his footfalls were... muted coming off the marble, like he was hearing them from a distance.

A light appeared at the end of the tunnel. "Finally" he said as he approached. He walked into the light...

Only to emerge inside a massive train station. A grand one at that, the floors appeared to be polished marble, there was metal on every surface edge and there were lights everywhere.

Looking around, the wrong-ness became more apparent, the entire station was devoid of any colour, there were no trains anywhere in sight, smells appeared to be muted and the rafters appeared to be full of birds. Black Birds. Thankfully other people were around, and they seemed to have maintained their colour. He was still getting his bearings when something knocked into him. He looked at the person, a faunus woman with tiger ears and dirty blonde hair. She seemed to be panicking and looking around wildly as if searching for something, or someone.

"LILLY!" The woman screamed, on the verge of tears. When no answer came, she seemed... relieved, odd. "She's probably around here somewhere" said Jaune. The woman started crying. "Maybe there's someone who can help us?" he said, looking around. "Us?" Questioned the woman "Why would you help a faunus like me?"

"Because it's the right thing to do." He said instantly, the way he said it gave the woman pause. He looked around for any security personnel. He saw a stout man in an old-fashioned uniform. As they walked over, he noticed them and pulled out a clipboard and an old-fashioned pocket-watch. He turned to them and looked down at the clipboard "I'm afraid your daughter isn't 'ere missus" He said "You'll be wanting to make your way to the ticket booth." He turned to Jaune "You sir, aren't supposed to be here" He said, looking flustered. "And yet, here I am" Said Jaune, a small smile decorating his face. As he spoke, one of the birds landed on his shoulder. "He'll show you where you need to go" Said the guard.

"How will he..." Jaune trailed off as he saw a shade of red that brought a sensation of both hope and sorrow to his chest, he heard a humming that he remembered from every time she was in an especially good mood, and thought no-one was around. There! He saw a female person with a long, red ponytail walk into what appeared to be a restaurant or cafe. He ran across the platform and ran inside. There was no-one with red hair in sight, and it turned out this was more of a pub than anything else, leather seated booths lined the walls and the floor was chequered. _'Surely the bartender saw her'_ he thought to himself as he approached the bar. A tall, pale, sallow man dressed in black looked at him and smiled. Jaune would have called him a vampire if he had had any fangs. "The one you are looking for is in the corner booth" Came the bartender's raspy voice, as he extended a pale, borderline-malnourished arm and pointed at the appropriate booth. Jaune followed the man's finger and saw a red ponytail falling down the back of the booth. He briskly walked over and slipped into the booth across from her.

"Not who you were wanting, am I?" Said the figure sitting across from him, ignoring the bunch of apples and the glass of water that sat in front of him. "It seems you've had quite a bad day. She's *here* but not here, as it were. But don't worry, she said she'd wait for you." He continued. The man was tall, maybe seven feet, with wild black hair that seemed to stick up from his scalp and flow down the back of his neck at the same time. He was dressed from head to toe in leathers and his skin was unnaturally pale. But the weirdest thing about him was his face, around his eyes was black as ink, with a vertical line over each eye for about an inch both ways, and his mouth had a huge grin that extended past where his lips ended and curved upward, ending in the centre of his cheeks. "Who are you? Where are we?" Asked Jaune, thoroughly weirded out. "My name is Eric, and I can't tell you where we are, I can only tell you where we are not." Said Eric. Jaune looked at his feet. "Let me ask you something mister Arc. Do you believe in angels?" Jaune looked up and looked Eric in the eyes "I knew an angel, a beacon of light in a kingdom of darkness. Then they took her, and destroyed her" he said, suppressed rage clear in his voice. Eric could also see it in his eyes. "She didn't deserve what they did to her."

"So" said Eric "What are you going to do about it?" Jaune grabbed Eric by his coat's lapels "WHAT CAN I DO?! I'M DEAD!" He shouted, Eric merely grinned "If you could do something about it, what _would_ you do?" he said, lightly removing Jaune's hands from his coat. "I'd make them all pay, I'd make them all suffer. Hell would seem like heaven compared to what I would do to them." said Jaune, his tone having returned to normal, but Eric could see in his eyes that he meant every word. "What if" said Eric "What if someone could send you back, back to where you came from, and gave you the tools to exact justice?" Asked Eric, leaning forward. Jaune sat up straight "Wait, is this an 'exchange for my soul' sort of deal? There has to be a downside, right?" Eric's smile grew "Seeing as you're already dead, you've kinda payed the ultimate price already." He said "Now I'm not the one who will help you" He pointed to the bird on Jaune's shoulder "He will"

"This Raven?" Jaune looked perplexed. "Actually it's a... never mind" Said Eric "He is an angel of sorts, and he has chosen to help you attain true justice, in a world gone mad." Jaune's eyes narrowed "Are you always this melodramatic?" He asked. Eric simply grinned at him "It's really rather fun, you should try it some time." he said as the booth started to rattle slowly, and a rumbling began to fill the air. The sound of a train arriving thundered through the station, odd in that while every other sound was muted, the sound of the train seemed normal. "That's my cue to leave you" Said Eric, standing up. "He will explain the rest. I wish you the best of luck with your endeavour, mister Arc" he said as he left the establishment to board his train. Jaune stared at the train, after it had left he continued staring into space, lost in his thoughts.

He looked around again, he was surrounded by thick fog and the raven remained on his shoulder. "So now what?" He asked the raven "Now" Came a voice barely above a whisper "Follow me" it said as the raven jumped off his shoulder, spread its wings and flew off into an area of fog that appeared to be glowing. Jaune let out a breath and thought about what he was going to do, before running after the raven as fast as his legs could carry him.

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 **Author's notes:**

 **Yeah, so sorry to everybody but life has been sorta hectic of late. Expect updates irregularly. And if you've already guessed where I'm taking inspiration from, please don't spoil that for others. As a writer I like to wear my inspiration on my sleeve.**

 **Please feel free to leave a review. Constructive criticism is appreciated**


	3. Return

Chapter 3: Return

It was a cold, windy evening in autumn, the sun had set a couple of hours prior and the wind whistling through the trees was the only sound to be heard in the graveyard.

At a simple, temporary wooden headstone, the moonlight illuminated the words

Jaune Arc

Friend

Comrade

Leader

Inspired Us All To Be Better

There were a half-dozen fresh flowers placed over the grave. Simple, white flowers. Whoever had left them there was long gone when the ground began to move.

The soil over the grave began to shift aside and the sound of creaking wood echoed over the graveyard's stillness. As the soil moved aside, a hole appeared in the ground and a hand reached out, grasping at the cold-hardened earth. A figure with blonde hair dragged itself out of the simple coffin it had been previously confined in. Jaune felt every nerve ending, every muscle fibre and every follicle of skin cry out in pain as they had grown used to the stiffness and cold of the grave.

No-one was around to hear the cry of pain and anguish that split the night, a cry that would have sent chills down the spine of any person who heard it.

Jaune looked back at the coffin and at his own body as his body got used to functioning again. He was in dark burial-clothes, decent quality ones at that. Inside the coffin he noticed that they had buried him with his weapon. For a moment he was thankful that whoever the people who buried him were, they had buried him with his weapon. He reached out to it and as he grasped the hilt, his mind was flooded with images, feelings and emotions. Memories.

He saw himself leaving home after taking Crocea Mors, he saw his time at beacon, and he saw her... Still alive and full of life, he saw her dancing, he saw her laughing. He saw her eyes as she sent him away. He saw his last stand against the grimm, he saw how he managed to hold them off, he saw the aftermath of that brutal melee. Lying against a wall, grimm bodies all around him, he was about to pass out. He was proud, proud that he had managed to win, albeit in the state he was in. He didn't worry though, he knew his aura could most likely handle this. He felt something puncture through his side and he looked at his attacker. He couldn't tell much about them other than that they were tall, dark-haired and they were wearing a red and white nevermore mask.

After that, nothing. Only voices.

A caw caught his attention as the raven had landed on his headstone.

"All caught up?" asked the bird. Jaune nodded. "In that case, follow me!" It said, spreading its wings before taking flight.

Jaune got to his feet, but before he walked off he picked up the flowers and smelled them. He received no pleasure from the act. Dropping them, he drew his sword and 'adjusted' his headstone. "Where are you taking me?" He asked as he sheathed his sword and followed the bird out of the cemetery.

"A good place, a place where I can start you on your journey properly" Said the bird.

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Somewhere in the Forever Fall Forest

"How much further?" Jaune asked, they had been travelling for hours now, it was early morning and bitterly cold, the sun wouldn't be rising for another few hours.

"Do you see that stream there?" Asked the raven, gesturing with its beak at a stream of clear, gently moving water. "Follow it upstream through those trees and stop at the first clearing you encounter. I want you to wait for me there, understood?"

Jaune looked at the stream and started walking in the direction indicated, it was only a few minutes of moving through the thickets and trees before he arrived at a clearing. It was a fairly unremarkable area, the stream was on one side, a large boulder with a flat surface facing into the clearing was at the opposite end, and in the middle was a large tree stump.

It would have been easy to wait for the raven, but he felt a great sense of serenity from the area. The sounds of the water and the wind through the red leaves gave him a tremendous feeling of peace. Nevertheless, he sat down with his back against the boulder and waited. He could feel sleep tugging at his mind, it couldn't have been earlier than 3am and the moonlight gave the area an almost ethereal look.

He awoke as the sun began to rise, birds began singing and for a moment he could forget just how much of a mess the world was in. Until a massive grimm creature made itself known nearby. Near enough that Jaune could hear it but not see it. He began to panic, he knew he should stand and fight, but he was seized with an urge, no, need, to put as much distance as possible between himself and the grimm. A feeling that the creature picked up on and began acting on loudly, its snarls and roars getting louder as it got closer.

Once the ground began shaking he took off, running at full pelt as he followed the stream downriver until he reached a waterfall.

"Of course." He moaned.

He couldn't see the bottom, but when he looked around, he couldn't see any of the landscape either, it was entirely shrouded in darkness. He looked at his options; Wait for whatever that thing was to get him, or take a leap of faith.

He knew there was no chance that there would be enough water at the bottom. He ran as fast as he could and jumped off the cliff, as his feet left the ground, weightlessness overtook him. That part was almost pleasant as he reached the apex of his jump. Then he fell down into the darkness like a stone dropped in the sea.

SPLASH!

He felt the water... all 8 inches of it.

He looked around, the sun was shining again, the area bathed in a warm, golden light. He was in a beautiful garden, made even more so by the light. There were trees, bushes and flowers in all the colours of the rainbow. He could hear birdsong as he pulled himself out of the fountain that he had landed on and wandered the garden. After a while spent wandering, he saw a familiar flash of red that brought his attention to one of the gazebos that were scattered around the garden. He ran to the gazebo as fast as he could, his eyes were watering. When he got there he fell to his knees at the sight before him.

Long crimson hair cascaded down a woman's back from the pony tail she wore it in. She wore a long white dress and her back was turned, but he knew who she was, he had seen her back enough times to commit the image to memory. He felt the urge to say something, anything.

"Abashed the devil stood, and felt the awe of goodness, and found beauty in its shape, and mourned his loss." He recited from one of the books he had read over the years.

He felt it was apt, tears began falling down his cheeks as he finished.

The woman let out a sigh of regret "You're not the Devil, Jaune. I always said you needed to give yourself more credit" She said as she turned to face him. The beautiful, emerald eyes that met his were clouded with tears.

Jaune gazed over her, still crying "I failed you. I let you suffer alone, I let you down. Whenever I needed you, you were there. The one time you needed me, I FAILED YOU! I LET YOU GO ALONE! I LET YOU DIE!" He screamed.

Pyrrha closed her eyes and walked over to him, she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around his crying form.

"No" She said sadly "You didn't, I did. If I hadn't been so determined to fulfill my 'destiny' I wouldn't have shut you out." From her tone, she obviously viewed the very concept of destiny in contempt.

He was still shaking as he embraced her "I never got a chance to tell you I loved you, and now I guess you'll never know"

Her eyes met his "What makes you say that?" She asked

"This is all a dream" He said "A dream I desperately wish was true, but none of this is real"

"Not true"

Jaune looked behind him, perched on a tree branch was the raven, it looked at him sideways.

"This is one of my good places, where the divide between the land of the living and the land of the dead is... Different." Said the Raven

"I'm real Jaune" Said Pyrrha, tears welling up "I was told I'd be able to see you again, and I jumped at the chance."

He brought his hands up to her face and cupped either side.

"I can't join you yet" he said, looking into her teary eyes "But I can do this"

He leaned froward and kissed her. Her mouth was warm, and it reminded him of what he was fighting for. Anyone who would simply destroy such beauty deserved nothing less than death. And he would make sure they all knew the price they would be paying.

He broke the kiss, already missing her warmth. "You were always there for me, you did everything you could for me. Now it's time I did something for you; Vengeance." He said, a fire returning to his eyes.

"I'll wait for you" She said as she moved her hands to clasp his "Always"

Tears leaked onto the red grass he lay on, the morning sun's light doing nothing to alleviate his mood.

"Now that you know what you fight for, you can do anything. With the right tools of course." Said the raven as it perched on the stump at the center of the clearing

"Tools?" Asked Jaune "I have my sword"

"A sword is a fine weapon, but you're going to need more than that." Said the raven "The tools you will need are under that boulder."

Jaune looked at the boulder "There's no way I can lift this, even with aura. It must weigh at least 60 tonnes."

"Try anyway, you might be surprised" Said the raven coyly.

Jaune pushed the boulder, he could feel it resisting and so he dug in his heels and pushed. He could almost feel it give way, he put his back into it, and the boulder moved backwards a metre or so.

Jaune shouted in triumph and pumped his fist in the air. He took a step back and looked at the rock, it now had what looked like a painting of a black bird. On the ground under where the boulder had been was a small square hole. It was no more than 10 centimetres deep, but it was what it contained that interested him.

A pair of crossed tomahawks and what looked like a dagger in a sheath looked up at him, there was also a length of leather that had loops for each of the weapons, he assumed it was a belt. He picked up one of the tomahawks and looked over it in his hand. The haft was about half a metre in length with a head made of some kind of black metal. It was about 7 inches from the blade's edge to the haft, with a 3 inch spike on the other side. Somehow it felt perfectly balanced. He took the belt and put it on, sliding the dagger and sheath into the appropriate loop. He held the tomahawks in his hands, he knew that there was something special about them.

"Embed those into the stump as hard as you can" Said the raven, it flew off of the stump and landed on the boulder before turning around to face him.

Jaune held both tomahawks in his hands and let out a yell as he slammed them into the stump.

As soon as they made contact, his mind was flooded with images, memories and... experience.

"What just happened?" He asked the raven.

"Now you are ready, now you can begin the hunt. Now you know an ancient form of combat that teaches you how to use those weapons as well as an unarmed technique." Said the raven, glee seeming to seep into its voice. "Throw one of those into a tree on the other side of the clearing."

Jaune lifted one of the tomahawks into a throwing position, he realised as he focused on the target, that he would never have been able to do this when he was alive. He reached his arm back and let fly.

The tomahawk turned gracefully in the air before embedding about 4 inches into a tree about 40 metres away.

"Now we head back to the city, and the hunt begins." Said the raven as it swooped off in the direction of Vale. Jaune grinned as he retrieved the tomahawk, as he walked after the raven he allowed himself a smile at the thought.

They were all going to die, they just didn't know it yet.

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 **Author's notes:**

 **I'm back, and I'm even managing to get a chapter with a word-count of over 2 thousand, Yay! A few quick shoutouts:**

 **Chrono Pheonix: Dude, whilst you are correct, I did ask for people not to spoil it, so yeah. Thanks (He said sarcastically)**

 **asdfguy432 is doing something similar to this so please give his fic Jaune Arc: The Boiling Man some love, birds of a feather and all that (hah)**

 **I do have some free time approaching so I will hopefully be able to update more often**

 **Again, any constructive criticism is appreciated and feel free to leave a review**


	4. A New Vale

A New Vale

Velvet was running for her life.

She had been taking flowers to the cemetary around sunset. That's when she found that some... evil person had dug up her friend's grave and stolen his body and grave-goods. To add insult to injury, they had also carved 'FAILURE' into his headstone. As she had hurried out, she must have gained the attention of one of the gangs that control many of the districts of Vale.

Now it seemed that one of their members was chasing her through the back alleys of the Upper-Class district.

If she could just get within sight of the checkpoint, she'd be safe.

Then something no, someone tripped her. She fell to the ground, and felt something prick her neck. In the dark, her night vision gave her a clear view of her attackers. Both were human, one was shorter and fat, with short blonde hair. The other was taller, had dark hair and a short beard. They both wore long coats, looted atlas body armour and they were both armed with swords. Velvet wanted to get to her feet, to run, to scream, anything. But she could feel her strength leaving her.

The shorter one had an empty syringe in his hand. "Aura poison, freak. With a little sedative so you don't fight back." Said the shorter one "She is pretty though, let's change that."

Velvet felt the first blow to her face, her weakening aura managed to soften the blow, but as the attacks continued, the marks began to show.

After a couple of minutes, the looks in their eyes changed, they became lecherous, hungry. Velvet began to panic, adrenalin fighting the effects of the poison. She tried to drag herself away on her stomach, getting a few feet before feeling a boot pressing down on her back.

"You do her first, bro." Said the taller one. "I'll watch"

Velvet wanted to scream, but all she could do was weakly moan "No...Please." Tears slid down her cheeks.

The shorter one started laughing "No-one can hear you. Maybe if you yell loud enough, all the people you freaks killed will come to help you. So go on, scream."

All she could do was cry as the man loomed over her.

"That's what I thought" Said the short man.

The trio heard a sharp whistle split the night, it was coming from behind them. As the short man turned to look, the tall man heard something whiz past his ear, and stared in horror at his friend.

His friend had a tomahawk embedded at least 4 inches into the side of his head.

The tall one quickly turned around to look behind him. As he did so, he felt something hook around the back of his right knee at the same time a fist slammed into his throat, knocking him down.

The man opened his eyes to see a man with blue eyes staring down at him, there was a boot on his throat, and he could feel something dripping onto his forehead.

"That's a nice coat" Said the man

"It's yours" Gasped the man on the ground, the boot was making it hard to breathe "Please just don't kill me"

The man above him removed his boot, and the man on the ground rapidly removed his coat. He felt his forehead and he stiffened at the sight of blood that covered his hand.

"Remove his coat too" Ordered the man with the tomahawk.

As the man on the ground crawled over to his friend's body, Velvet got a good look at her savior, what she saw shocked her.

"Jaune!" She murmured. "We thought you were dead"

Jaune smiled at her "I was, but I'm better now"

The man from before had finished removing the coat from his dead friend. Whimpering, he offered it to Jaune. Jaune bodyslammed the man into the wall, drawing his knife, he held it to the man's throat.

"I'm this close to simply killing you for what you and your friend have done and were going to do, but tonight I'm feeling merciful. If you tell me where the White Fang and their leaders are, I'll let you leave, intact." The way he said it left the terrified man in front of him in no doubt that he meant what he said.

"They aren't in Vale." Said the terrified man in front of him. "I don't know where they are, one of the faunus gangs on the south side might know though, some of them are supposedly in contact with them." He hoped the tidbit would barter for his hide.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Said Jaune, removing his knife. "Not much to go on, but it's a start"

The man started to walk away before Jaune was suddenly in front of him again. "I'd recommend seeking medical attention." He said.

"For what?" Asked the man, before Jaune embedded a tomahawk into his crotch.

"That." Said Jaune, before gesturing at the man's deceased friend. "And if I ever hear or catch you so much as looking at a woman the wrong way, I'll do the same to you."

As the man limped off, Jaune rushed over to Velvet's prone form and gently gripped her face with both hands.

"Jaune... What are you...?" Mumbled Velvet.

"Hold still" Said Jaune, as a rivulet of amber fluid began draining from Velvet's puncture wound. Within seconds she was fully awake, and crying.

"Not here" Said Jaune, pulling her to her feet. We need to get you home first."

Velvet dried her tears "Follow me." She said hoarsely, looking at every shadow they passed.

"They won't folow us, and if they do. I won't let them near you." He said. This seemed to calm her down somewhat.

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After a twenty minute walk, they came within sight of a roadblock. A couple of armed soldiers in uniforms that Jaune didn't recognise patrolled behind a wall of sandbags, barbed wire and sharpened spikes. Floodlights illuminated the road they were walking down. The sound of music and singing in a language that Jaune couldn't understand echoed around the otherwise empty street

"Did I miss something?" Asked Jaune, confused at the dark uniforms the soldiers wore. They didn't look like any of the uniforms he'd ever seen.

"After the Fall, the people held a powerful hatred for the Atlas military, they would attack Atlas soldiers on sight. Because none of the other kingdoms would send soldiers, the council had to look for aid elsewhere." Explained Velvet as they approached the roadblock. "The council made a deal with the League of Minor Nations for aid, in exchange for a seat at the table when all of this is over."

"Okay." Said Jaune, pointing at the soldiers. "But who are _they_ specifically?"

Velvet looked at him curiously. "I would have though that it was obvious, the spiked helmets give it away. The soldiers the League sent are from the Reich Federation."

Jaune squinted at the soldiers as they approached, indeed they wore helmets with a single spike at the crest. On closer inspection, the dark green uniforms and spiked helmets had been modified in places to allow for faunus soldiers. They were armed mostly with rifles, but here and there were other weapons. They all seemed to have a sidearm and a sword too.

As they neared the makeshift booth, a young man inside the booth with dark hair a thick moustache turned and greeted Velvet boisterously. "Guten abend fraulein!" He shouted. "Who's your friend?"

Velvet met his gaze and said to the man "Guten abend Franz, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Franz saw something in her eyes, something bad had happened this evening, but he decided not to press for details. "You know the drill, I need to see your papers."

"Papers?" Jaune asked "I don't have any identification."

Franz squinted at him. "Been out in the wilderness?"

When Jaune answered in the affirmative, Franz picked up an old telephone and keyed in a number. "We got one at the northwest checkpoint, needs papers. Okay. I'll send them your way."

He put the phone down. "You will be escorted to the area commander for processing, they will issue you with papers, and then you can be on your way."

Two soldiers with rifles stepped up to them. "Follow me please." Said one in a gruff voice, the other soldier fell into step behind them.

They were escorted to an old Vale PD station near the river. Inside they saw a gigantic individual clad from head to toe in armour walking back and forth along rows of people doing press ups. "Commandant Metzger?" Called one of the soldiers. "Your guests have arrived."

The armoured man the size of an ursa turned and looked at them. "Follow me into my office" He said, turning and walking into a back room.

The interview went smoothly enough, though it perplexed Jaune that the commander never removed his helmet. After a couple of hours Jaune turned to leave with fresh identification papers in one of the pockets of his looted coat. Then the phone rang. "Ja?" Answered the commander. "I see." He looked at them "Your presence has been requested by my superior. You can find him in the Irminsul."

"I know the place." Said Velvet. "I find myself going there often now."

For the first time since his return, Jaune took a proper look at Velvet. Her uniform was the same aside from a length of dark cloth that had been sewn over her chest, she also wore a black armband with Vale's insignia on it. She seemed to be in good health, but he could see in her eyes how difficult it was to remain hopeful after the Fall.

As they walked, they picked up idle chatter, news and plenty of singing and drinking. "Why do they sing so much?" Asked Jaune.

"It's how they maintain morale, it helps keep the grimm away and it strengthens resolve. Plus some of the songs are really catchy." Answered Velvet.

The Irminsul, as it turned out was a huge warehouse. As they entered, Jaune took in the sight of a massive tree reaching up to the sky. It was covered in candles, all over the walls were photographs of men, women, children and families. "The dead?" Inquired Jaune.

"The living." Came a new voice.

Looking over they saw a man roughly the size of Yatsuhashi, but with pale skin and pale blonde hair. He was clad in a similar dark green uniform as the soldiers, but he had what appeared to be a collar that had dozens of white, oval shaped stones embedded in it. As he turned to face them, they saw his face, he couldn't have been older than 25 and had a short beard and grey-blue eyes. Eyes that looked straight at Jaune.

"I greet you as Kaisar Wulfric of the Reich Federation. Jaune Arc" Said the man.

"Be careful of this one, he sees more than most" Said the raven, perching up in the rafters.

"Why am I here?" Asked Jaune.

"Because I seek to make a deal." Said the Kaisar, looking past him and staring at Velvet, before walking briskly over to her.

"I am so sorry, fraulein." He said before grasping her in a hug, she found the gesture... oddly comforting, and burst into tears. "That's it, let it all out" Said the Kaisar.

"Why? Why would you do this?" Sobbed Velvet.

"How can I not? In this shrine to hope, and in front of my gods I must. It is important to never forget the things that make us human." He paused "Or faunus."

"About this deal?" Asked Jaune.

"I want Adam Taurus. In fact I want all of the higher ups in the White Fang, and I want them alive. How alive they are is up to you so long as they aren't dead or dying."

"What's in it for me?" Said Jaune.

"I can provide information and assistance for you on your quest." Replied the Kaisar.

"Such as?" Asked Jaune.

"Follow me." Said the Kaisar, leaving Velvet to her own devices. "I will deliver him back to you once we are done." He told her before walking out the door with Jaune in tow.

Walking to the nearest park, Jaune was escorted into a large tent where a badger faunus man was tied to a chair.

"Herr Arc, allow me to introduce you to lieutenant Klaus von Halstadt. He is going to be telling us everything."

"I'll tell you nothing!" Yelled Klaus "I am a Reich citizen! I have rights!"

The Kaisar smiled at him "That is true, herr lieutenant. Because you surrendered yourself, I, under Reich military law, cannot execute you. Out of curiosity though, how is your mother's shop doing? I haven't been to Ostia in a long time."

Klaus stiffened.

"Don't forget about your nephew. He'll be turning 12 soon, ready to serve the Reich and the world."

Klaus looked to the side.

"Now, under normal circumstances your punishment would be hard labour. But because of this attack, I feel that a stricter punishment is necessary, and I do so despise Traitors."

Klaus looked panicked. "I'm no traitor! I never attacked our people, I only attacked-"

"Civilians? Tourists? In this attack, you and your ilk used grimm as weapons. Are you aware of the punishment _that_ receives under our law?"

"Death?" Asked Klaus.

"Branding as honourless, followed by a lifetime of hard labour. Away from the sun."

Klaus looked broken. "And my family?"

"Depending on how they associate with the crime, they could join you in work, or they could simply have their property confiscated." The Kaisar paused, towering over the lieutenant. "But there is a way out, for both you and them. Tell me everything you know about the leaders of the attack, and any future plans. If you do, then I will transfer you to the blutbanner regiment, and your family will be safe."

Klaus looked up "I... I accept your terms. I don't know much, only that something came up during the attack, something so important that they sent one of the Fallen One's servants to Patch Island to find something there, along with about a half-dozen of Taurus' elite guard."

The Kaisar beamed at Jaune. "A starting point herr Arc. I look forward to any information that you can glean from this individual. Good hunting."

He reached out his hand and Jaune took it. Immediately his vision was flooded with images of... Darkness, violence, a constant, insatiable curiosity and... Green eyes? There were plenty of images of a woman with long blonde hair and green eyes.

As those images began to appear in Jaune's mind, the Kaisar broke the handshake

"I believe that a raven is a sign of good luck, but apparently that is not universally true." Said the Kaisar. "If we help each other, we can both get what we want."

"I'll do as you ask, for now." Said Jaune "But now I must go and comfort my friend before I leave."

"Interesting, very interesting." Said the Raven from the roof of the tent. "I shall keep an eye on this one."

At that, Jaune made his way back to Velvet, who offered him a place to stay overnight, as there wouldn't be any boats between the city's remains and Patch until morning.

 **Another Chapter done.**

 **Now I don't plan on expanding any of the factions and politics I added in this chapter, that's for a different project I'll probably get round to somewhere down the line. I will just say that most of the factions I'll be adding will be collections of cultural tropes. This is also where I will be breaking canon, especially in regards to Vacuo, but now I'm getting ahead of myself.  
**

 **As always, feel free to review, constructive criticism is always welcome.**


	5. First Steps Down The Path

First Steps Down The Path

On the couch in an apartment in a ruined city, a man awoke from a nightmare. His hopes of seeing the one taken from him and the world had been dashed, and the black bird that rested on the arm of the couch he had been sleeping on looked at him with disdain.

"Less dreaming, more revenge seeking, boy" It said. "You will see her again, and if you make enough progress, I will take you to another good place."

Jaune walked slowly into the apartment's bathroom. Turning the tap on and splashing water in his face, he didn't feel any better. Looking at the figure in front of him he asked his keeper "Should I cover my face, conceal my identity somehow?"

"If you fear reprisal killings of the people you love who remain, then I would say that's a good idea. But a mask could affect your vision." Said the Raven.

"I'm thinking war-paint." Said Jaune.

"You're in luck." Said the Raven. "Some of the soldiers I saw are of an older mindset. They wear paints of white,black and burgundy."

Jaune thought about it. "Black and white should suffice..."

A whirring sound emanated from behind him.

"Who are you, and what the fuck are you doing in our apartment?" Came a woman's voice he recognised from behind him.

He put on his biggest, stupidest smile and turned around with his hands above his head.

"Well.. Y'know.. I happened to be in the neighbourhood and thought I would drop in and see how my favourite second year team was doing." He said, staring down the rotating barrel of the minigun that was aimed at his torso. "It's good to see you again, Coco."

"Jaune?! But, you were dead, we all attended your funeral. How are you here? Are you some sort of ghost?"

Jaune walked briskly up to her and looked down into her eyes, he still had his stupid grin on his face. ' _Even asleep she wears the beret_ ' he thought to himself, noticing the Vale badge that adorned the front of the beret, giving it a military vibe instead of a fashion one.

"Boo" He whispered, though it didn't matter. He could hear the other inhabitants of the apartment rousing from their slumber. "You wouldn't happen to have any black hair-dye, perchance?"

Seeing the look in her face, he dropped his grin and decided to answer her question.

"I don't know exactly what I am, but I do know what I have to do. There is a list of people I have to end before my soul can rest."

"Oh shit, you're one of those things." Came a man's voice from the next room. "I'd hate to be anyone on _that_ list."

"Is there something you want to share with the class, Fox?" Asked Coco to her partner.

"There's an old legend that if someone is killed unjustly, and that there was a great enough pain carried with them to the land of the dead, they would be given a chance to seek vengeance on the ones responsible for their predicament." Said the faunus. "And Heaven help those that come between the hunter and his prey."

"I ask again. Do you have any black hair-dye?" Asked Jaune. "I need it to conceal who I am to the people I'm hunting."

Coco looked flustered before answering "You can use Yatsuhashi's."

Jaune looked at the giant quizically "Really, you?"

Yatsuhashi sighed before muttering "Not my fault, my family greys early in life."

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With his hair colour matching his bird, Juane stepped outside the apartment and walked down the stairs that led out of the apartment complex. He was about to head to the docks when he heard a voice behind him.

"There's a sizable buildup of grimm in the eastern part of the city, we don't have the manpower to sustain a hunt. But if we could lure the beasts back to our defensive line, it would make taking back the city substantially easier."

Jaune turned and looked into the visor of the gigantic commander Metzger from before.

"Why are you telling me this, I'm on my way to Patch."

"I get the feeling that you always were one to play hero, and now you attract grim like honey to a fly. Usually we get someone to tread the path of glory by lottery, but because you have... Special qualities, I thought I would call on the man you always wanted to be, and ask for a favour."

"Which is...?"

"I need you to play the part of bait. It would surely improve your chances in whatever afterlife you end up in."

Jaune looked up at the pre-dawn light that illuminated the sky, he thought about how much he had wanted to be a hero, and he thought about how much he wanted to begin his hunt in earnest. Then he thought about what his partner, friends and teammates would have said if they had seen him turn the commander down in life."

"You should do it" Said the bird on his shoulder. "Abandoning people in need isn't what you would do in life, so why start doing it in death?"

"I didn't kill people in life." Retorted Jaune.

"Plenty of the people you idolise did and do though. Don't forget that to fight for any goal with a sword generally involves killing a person at some point."

Jaune moaned before he relented. "What would I have to do?"

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The younger ones noticed the aroma of exquisite pain before the older grimm did. To them it was water to a man dying of thirst. When they noticed it, they charged in its direction, trampling anything in their way. Then the alphas noticed the raw, unbridled sorrow added into the mix and they too were helpless to resist its allure. The oldest ones caught the heady whiff of a pure, unadulterated rage, and they paused, they felt that going after their brethren was more of a risk than it seemed.

Then bullets began impacting them, and the sound of gunfire dissolved their doubts as they charged at the individual who had fired at them.

Jaune giggled as he ran, they had all fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.

He discarded the now empty clip from the broomhandle pistol that the commander had handed him and loaded a full one from the bag he carried under his arm. He just had to make it back to the main avenue, and he'd be safe.

There had to be a couple of thousand grimm chasing him as he ran as fast as he could around the final corner. The roadblock ahead of him was a bulwark of hope to the running man, sandbags, barbed wire, and a line of heavily armoured soldiers weilding heavy weapons. Then came a great shout as he neared the line.

"HIT THE DIRT"

Within a second of him taking cover, the rattle of high-calibre automatic weapons fire split the early morning air, and the muzzle flashes illuminated his way to safety as the bullets whizzed over his head and tore through the flesh and bones of the monsters that had chased him to their deaths.

He crawled the last 20 metres or so until he reached the line. As he came within reach, a pair of strong arms grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him through the firing line.

For only about thirty seconds more, the massacre continued, then the guns went silent. The air was filled with gunsmoke and the sublimating vapour of the bodies that carpeted the street in a layer of fur and blood.

As the soldiers noticed him, they raised their right hands and closed their fists over their hearts, a salute to one who would walk the path of glory.

"Keep the gun, I can always get a new one. Plus I get the feeling that you have a greater need for it than I do." Said the commander. "One of your friends mentioned that you were looking for war paint in black and white. In marking yourself, you do realise what it means, at least to us?"

Jaune grinned at the items the commander had handed to him. "Oh yes. I understand fully."

As the sun rose a lone figure with a pale face, dark eyeshadow, black vertical lines across his eyes and a fake black grin that stretched from cheek to cheek stood on the prow of a boat piloted by a man who knew not to ask questions. The island of Patch was just ahead, now the hunt could begin in earnest.

"Find what you can." Said Jaune, as the Raven left his shoulder and took flight over the island's shore.

He smiled. "They're all going to die, now we just find out who gets to go first."

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 **And done. Sorry that this is mostly filler, but now that it's out of the way I can really get going. Next Chapter I promise that at least one villain will get their just desserts.  
**

 **As always, feel free to leave a review, constructive criticism is always appreciated.**


	6. The Raven Descends

The Raven Descends

Mercury was bored.

He usually was, but this was a new kind of bored.

It would have made sense to make backup copies of the data they had on all of the academy's students. But _someone_ got their master copy damaged beyond repair, and they had to spend a couple of months searching all corners of remnant for their target. A week ago they had a tip-off that Patch was the place they were looking for.

And here he was, unable to go outside for fear of being recognised, stuck in an old, two-storey house on the edge of town for a week whilst the "commandos" searched the island. He had been given the unenviable task of keeping the hostages quiet, he had to watch them at all times. He couldn't just kill them either.

"I do hope they won't be a problem, boy." One of the commandos had told him. "But my aunt never did know when to quit. So feel free to be a bit rough with her, but leave the kid. He ain't done nothing wrong."

A week of feeding and escorting and watching. All the while a boy of about 12 glared at him and would curse his name whenever the gag was off. If the mission went on for much longer, he swore he would kill every single faunus on the island, fuck whatever his boss would say.

He shuddered as he remembered what that flash had done to her face. That was why they were here, to end a dangerous threat to the grimm lady's plan. It was an obvious move to make, especially as the target appeared to be both comatose and lightly defended.

It started to rain.

"Fuck that, I'm not going out again in this weather." Said one of the commandos, two of them were still out searching.

"Afraid of getting a wash?" Asked Mercury, sarcasm dripping into his tone.

The commando flipped him off. "Cards?" Asked another of the commandos. "We ain't got shit to do otherwise."

Mercury abstained from the game, preferring to watch as the soldiers drank and gambled small wagers. By the overhead light the game continued after the sun went down. A couple of hours before midnight, there was a knock at the window, and one of the commandos got up to open it.

"I think we could use some fresh air." He said, the signs of intoxication beginning to slip into his speech and movements. Must have been a lightweight.

When he opened the window, he noticed a shadow at the corner of the ledge. Leaning out of the window, he saw a pale face with dark eyes and a grinning mouth.

"Who the fuck are you?" He asked, before feeling a cold metal sensation under his jaw.

"I'm the Krampus" Said Jaune, as he pulled the trigger, decorating the window with a hole, and the contents of the man's head. "I've come to punish all the naughty children"

He pulled the man's carcass through the window and swung through the window, landing on the table.

He grinned. "Some of you have been _verry_ naughty this year."

As the remaining commandos jumped out of their seats, running to get their weapons, Jaune focused on Mercury.

Jaune found his shocked expression hilarious.

Then Mercury found his bravado. "It's gonna take more than a painted up freak with a gun to take me down." He said, standing up and cocking his combat boots.

Jaune leapt off the table and drew his sword and shield. In that moment, the look in his eyes changed from a look of mirth to one of sadness, regret and a murderous blood-lust.

Charging at Mercury, he began to twist as the would-be assassin turned to kick him in the head. As the boot came up, Mercury opened his eyes and saw the shield connect with his right knee, turning him away from his target. As he missed, he felt a his opponent's sword cut through his clothing in a diagonal line from his left shoulder to his right hip. As he reeled back from the pain he was feeling, he failed to notice that Jaune had completed his spin and his shield was headed for Mercury's face at high speed.

Mercury felt the metal impact the side of his head, he wouldn't last much longer if help didn't arrive. Already his vision was starting to swim. But he could hear the heavy footfalls of the remaining commandos as they returned with their weapons. Maybe he could just rest for a second, regain some of his strength...

The three remaining commandos stood around their assailant in a semicircle. When they saw Mercury on the ground, they knew what the price of failure would be, even if they survived. Whilst the alcohol was still sizzling around their brain-pans, the training they had received under Taurus shone through as two of them lunged from the sides whilst the other struck from the front. Their problem was that they attacked out of sync. As the first one attempted to grab Jaune from the right, he tossed Crocea Mors into the air and elbowed the man in the throat as hard as he could, turning to the left and bringing his shield up to defend against the second man. He caught the sword in a reverse grip, and as he turned to face the commando on his left, rammed the sword back into the first commando's chest.

He could feel the blade slip between the mans ribs. He couldn't see how much damage he did, but he assumed that the man behind hm was out. Using the shield, he blocked the strike from the second commando before kicking him between the legs as hard as he could. Then he felt a blade puncture his side as the third commando took advantage of Jaune's distraction. Jaune dropped his sword and grabbed the hilt of the sword embedded in his flank and pulled it out. Gazing at the wound he had created, the commando's grin disappeared as the wound closed itself within seconds. Jaune smiled at the man as he brought the sword up to his mouth and licked along the flat of the blade. He tasted his own blood. "Yummy" He said as blood dripped from his mouth to the now terrified commando.

The second commando had recovered from the low blow, and was about to strike in an overhead blow when he felt the shield ram into his throat, hard. Hard enough that he was struggling to breathe, he made the decision to play dead, maybe he would make it out of this alive. As he fell to the floor, he saw the first commando struggling to get up as blood soaked through his clothing from the wound he had received before.

The third commando had been paralysed by fear, who was this guy? How had he managed to sneak up on them? How did he heal so quickly? Then he noticed the first commando was getting up and prepared to distract the man in front of him. Only for the man to twist around and thrust his sword through the first commando's spine, pinning him to the floor. At this, he felt a damp sensation running down his leg.

"Now look what you've done." Said Jaune. "You've gone and made a mess."

"Please don't kill me. I'll do anything you want, I'll tell you anything you want to know. PLEASE JUST LET ME LIVE!" He shrieked, falling to his knees as tears began to flow.

Jaune paused, if Mercury wouldn't spill the beans on where his compatriots were, he would need a backup. He strode up to the commando, and looked down into the man's eyes.

"There are two of you remaining, the other is pretending to die whilst he leaves you to your fate." Jaune pulled the sword out of the first commando's corpse and offered it to him. "I will only allow one of you to live, remember; He who does not strike first, will be first struck."

Then he stepped backwards, and strode over to Mercury and kicked him as hard as he could in the face. Any semblance of waking up was instantly shattered, and unconsciousness claimed Mercury.

The commando looked back at Jaune, who stared back. "I could always think of rewarding the cunning that your brother employed. But I do despise people who engage in cowardly acts. Such as harming civilians."

The commando had a brief feeling of panic as he looked at his downed colleague. "Forgive me for this, brother." he said sadly as he slit the man's throat.

He looked back at Jaune only to see he had moved behind him, and his fist was heading towards him at high velocity. He went out like a light.

Jaune dragged both Mercury and the commando to the house's garage, he had discovered whilst moving him, that Mercury had prosthetic legs, both of which ended above the knee. He found a couple of belts and tied Mercury's wrists to some shelving with his arms spread. Looking around the garage, he found two things, the set of power tools that many households owned, and the closet where the usual residents had been stuffed.

A woman and her son. As he cut their zip-ties, he asked the terrified pair to leave the house and to only alert the local constabulary after he left. He used the zipties he found to further tie Mercury to the shelving, and then to tie the surviving commando to the radiator across the floor-space.

"Now comes the fun part" Jaune told himself, only to hear a voice coming out of Mercury's pocket.

"We found the Target, do we attack now?" Came the voice. Fishing into the man's coat pockets, he found a military radio.

"Wait for now. _Someone_ doesn't want to go out and get wet. We'll attack at dawn." Answered Jaune, hoping that his ruse would work.

"Understood, we will recon for other potential threats." Crackled the radio before going dead.

Jaune exhaled. He stripped Mercury to the waist before walking to the kitchen, there he grabbed a large jug and filled it with water. He splashed it on Mercury and the commando. No reaction. It was after several splashes that they both came to, both with headaches.

Mercury felt strange, pain in his wrists and he could feel that his prosthetics had been disconnected. He looked around, and saw his legs across the floor in the corner, and a white fang commando was zip-tied to the radiator. Then in the dim light he saw the man who had done this, the false grin giving him a pseudo-macabre look. Then the man began punching him. He didn't say a word as his fists struck Mercury's torso and abdomen. He seemed to ignore the head and neck. Mercury kept his nerve, to give this man the satisfaction of a reaction would be worse than death. For a quarter of an hour, the man kept hitting him. Until one blow felt worse than the rest.

His aura had broken completely. The man in front of him spoke.

"If you tell me where Taurus, Emerald and Cinder are, I will end you quickly and painlessly." He said, pulling out a capped and filled syringe. "If you don't, I will make sure that it will be a long and painful process before you embrace the darkness that awaits you."

Mercury spat in his face. "Go to hell, freak!"

Jaune put the syringe on the table and looked over the assembled array of powertools before settling on the drill. He revved it a couple of times before grabbing Mercury's left arm and drilling into his elbow. He could feel the different flesh types as the drill cut through, until it met the bone. "Where are your co-conspirators?" He asked in a calm voice.

Mercury looked at the hole, blood and other fluids were seeping out around the drill-bit. "I've had my legs taken from me. This is nothing."

Jaune looked amusedly at his bravado. "Very well then." He smiled as he drilled all the way through the bone. Then he moved on to the other arm and drilled straight through the other elbow.

"Now, if you were without aura, that would cripple you. But seeing as you do have aura, I'll just have to mix this up a little." Said Jaune as he pulled out the knife that the Raven had given him. He walked up to Mercury and gripped his chin with his left hand. He looked him over before uttering. "I think an ear might loosen your tongue."

Mercury's stone-faced visage weakened slightly at the declaration. Then he felt the cold metal up by his right ear. Then he felt the blade cut into his flesh, and the pain he experienced was bad, but still wasn't on par with his legs. Jaune noticed, and stuck the knife into Mercury's left hand for good measure.

"I must admit that you are much better at handling pain than I thought." Said Jaune as he twiddled Mercury's ear between his fingers. Then he had a brainwave. "Wait right here." He said as he moved over to the table again and selected a pair of sturdy bolt-cutters.

He sidled up to Mercury and cut off the ring finger of his left hand. He picked it up off the floor and waved it in front of his captive's sweating face. "People don't really value the ring finger until it's gone." He said sadly. "Now you can't get married."

Mercury raised his head and looked into Jaune's eyes.

"Keep going, I can take it."

Jaune's eyes danced. He then cut off Mercury's index finger on his right hand and then the pinky on the same hand.

"You look a little famished. Here's something for your stomach to work on."

Jaune grabbed Mercury's jaw and pulled his mouth open before forcing the fingers down his throat. Mercury gagged and choked, but eventually the fingers stayed down. He felt dirty, and saw the commando had begun throwing up at the spectacle. Mercury discovered that he could take a lot, but cannibalism was a step over the line. Between coughs and dry-heaving he found his voice.

"I don't know where they are." He hacked out. "The boss especially."

At this, Jaune's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, especially?"

Mercury met Jaune's gaze. "We were transported there via teleportation, I've never seen landscape like it. It was a nightmare made real, and grimm were everywhere."

At this Jaune smiled and brought his right hand and grasped around Mercury's left ear. "Picture it." He commanded.

Mercury did, and Jaune's mind was flooded with images of the grimm queen's hellscape. The dark castle was the only structure in sight, but was surrounded by birthing pools as dark creatures dragged themselves out of the black goop that they formed from. He saw dark corridors devoid of life, and then he saw the creature that sat in the throne, he saw her advisers and other tools. Then he saw the false maiden herself. He saw how her face had been badly burned on one side, and that she could barely speak. Then he saw the order given, to find Ruby Rose and end her. It seemed Mercury had been escorted out before the others could be given their missions.

He let go of Mercury's head. He drew his knife.

Mercury was ready to die, but it seemed Jaune wasn't.

"I'm impressed at your fortitude. I think I'll take one last souvenir before I go." Then he grasped Mercury's head with his left hand as he began cutting a deep line along his forehead. Mercury screamed, the agony now exceeding what he could take. He could feel the blood flowing down his face before it got into his eyes. Jaune navigated the blade around the stump of Mercury's ear before turning downward, to the back of his head. There he stopped at the base of Mercury's skull before changing hands and bringing the knife up and around the remaining ear before completing the cut on the other side of Mercury's forehead. He put the knife away and gripped Mercury's grey hair.

The scream that Mercury uttered gave no doubt that he felt every nerve as it was ripped from his skull. He writhed against his restraints and sobbed uncontrollably. He felt Jaune's hand grab his face, and looked into the barrel of his pistol.

"I forsake your soul to the void. May an eternity pass before you see the light. May pain be your only companion." Said Jaune before shooting Mercury in both eyes, and slitting his throat for good measure.

He turned to the commando.

"I do hope you will give me a better answer than he did."

"MISTRAL!" Screamed the commando. "TAURUS IS SOMEWHERE NEAR MISTRAL CITY!"

Jaune brought the knife to the commando's throat. "You are going to go there, and tell him that death is coming for him." He said, before cutting the man free.

"He'll kill me." Said the commando.

"You don't have to tell him in person, just make sure he knows. Tell him that Jaune Arc sends his regards." Said Jaune. "And if you run without telling him, know that I will hunt you down and, _reward_ your strength of character." He said, slowly sliding the blade across the man's hairline, blood catching in the commando's hair.

"Now go!" Shouted Jaune, turning back to the carcass of Mercury Black as the terrified faunus ran as fast as he could away from the house, almost tripping on a body as he ran.

Jaune left the house moments later, with a blood soaked raven's feather tied into his hair. It was maybe an hour and a half until dawn, luckily the Raven was excellent at finding things. He had plenty of time to get to Ruby's home. Then he thought about what might happen if the men watching the house got nervous at the sound of the sirens.

He broke into a run, the Raven granted him greater speed than he would otherwise have had.

"You did well, boy. One down." It said.

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Xiao-Long Residence

10 minutes past dawn

Jaune saw the two remaining commandos walk up to the front door, they walked up without fear. Jaune grinned as he saw that they were also separated by a distance of several metres and weren't watching each other. He drew his sword and crept up behind the commando that was further from the door.

The first thing the commando felt was a sense of extremely sharp pain coming from his right leg before he felt a very strong hand cover his mouth and pull him backwards. He saw a pale grinning face and a razor-sharp sword swinging towards his throat. The last thing he felt was the blade as it separated his head from his body.

Jaune sheathed his sword and picked up the commando's head. The mask was intact, but he could see the surprise and shock that had been the man's final moments in his eyes. He pulled out one of his tomahawks and walked closer to the commando by the door. As he approached, the man was preparing to kick the door down.

A sharp whistle caught the man's attention. He turned to the source...

"Catch!"

An object landed in his arms, it was his partner's head. He looked up as he saw what could only be described as a mime from hell, charging at him with a pair of tomahawks drawn. As the commando dropped the head, Jaune's shoulder connected with his sternum and both bodies smashed through the wooden door.

The commando landed with Jaune on top of him. He thought he would be able to wrestle his way to a fighting stance, but that hope was dashed when Jaune twisted himself up into a straddling position and brought one of the tomahawks down onto the commando's mask, cracking it.

"Those of you in the front row, are about to get wet." Said the Raven gleefuly.

Jaune brought the other tomahawk down into the man's mask, shattering it to pieces. He hacked into the man's face, over and over, drowning out the screams with a single continuous thought. ' _They deserve this. They deserve it for taking her away. They deserve it for all the lives they took._ '

After a while the screams stopped, but he didn't. He kept hacking at the mush of blood, bone and brains that occupied the space of the commando's head.

"That's enough boy. He's dead." Said the Raven

Jaune rolled off the commando's body, blood covering his face and clothes. He screamed to the heavens, he screamed at the unfairness of life and he screamed in elation because he knew that for once he had done the right thing. He had helped a friend in need, even if she didn't know it.

"Who are you?" Came a quiet, terrified voice from behind a corner. He recognised the voice.

"Tell me, Yang Xiao-Long, do you believe in angels?"

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"Fuckin' 'ell! Wot 'appened 'ere?" Said a constable, looking over the mess of a body that had been left in this faunus lady's garage.

The body was of a young male. He had been scalped, had three of his fingers cut off, both of his elbows had been drilled through, he had been badly beaten, had both of his eyes shot and he had also had his throat slit. The strangest thing was that apparently the killer had carved an outline of a bird into this poor sod's chest.

"Maybe the killer wanted to make him extra dead?" Mused his partner.

" But only him? Have we got a description of the killer?" Asked the detective.

"Tall, jet black hair, dark eyes and war paint." Said the second constable. "But it seems that this one and his friends were keeping the residents hostage."

"Vigilan'e?" inquired the first constable.

"Looks like" Murmured the detective. There was something vaguely familiar about the victim. It never hurt to double check.

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 **An extra long chapter done! Yay!**

 **With the second semester starting, expect updates to be more infrequent. I also have to actually plot out the next bit of the story,**

 **As always, reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated.**

 **Also I can now beta for people so, y'know, just saying.**

 **Until next time.**


	7. Those Left Behind

Those Left Behind

Jaune got up off the floor and looked at the remains of the would-be murderer. He was still covered in blood and fragments of skull. He walked over to the corner and leaned against the wall.

"Do you believe in angels?" He asked again.

"What?" Came the reply.

"I met an angel once, she was a beacon of kindness, forgiveness and hope." His voice became lower and filled with rage. "Then they took her away. Y'know that feeling you get when you've been pushed to your limit? That point where you scream at the world "No More"? I am that moment made flesh. I am the universe's balancing point. They took away an angel, and now I have to make the demons pay in blood for that transgression." He said as he turned the corner.

Then he got a good look at her. She had lost weight, and her right arm. But the most visible change was that her hair had lost its lustre and the mischievious light that usually shone so bright in her eyes was gone. She also got a good look at him, and saw his eyes. She finally recognised his voice.

"Jaune? I'd heard you died." She said, moving backward towards the stairs.

He smiled. "Could you direct me to a bathroom?" He said, gesturing to himself. "I need to get cleaned up before I deal with your guests."

Yang was in shock, 20 minutes ago she had been asleep, and now she had a mutilated body in the house's front room, and a man dressed in graveclothes and a long coat asking to use her bathroom. It made her question her sanity, but she gestured in the direction of the downstairs bathroom.

Jaune used the shower to clean his face, his shirt and his coat, the blood came off easily enough under cold water. It was just a shame that Mercury's pelt would have to remain hidden, even if the pocket was starting to drip red. He hung up his clothes outside before he gathered up the bodies and other remains and dumped them together outside. All the while his friend watched in absolute silence.

He was naked to the waist, and she could see all of his scars.

"Why did you paint your face?" She asked, as he grabbed a shovel and started digging.

"In some... more traditional cultures, when the warriors and hunters would paint themselves, it was more than just a marking of tribal allegiance. It was a sacred rite. It was a declaration, an oath that they would sooner die than fail." He paused. "I've done both, but failure is definitely worse."

Once the bodies had been buried, Jaune grabbed a mop and began cleaning the floor where the body had been. Once the floor was clean, he walked over to Yang.

"Can I see her please? I need to know that she's okay."

"I wouldn't say okay exactly, but..." Yang trailed off, gesturing with her left hand for Jaune to follow her. She led him upstairs and opened the door to Ruby's room. That's when she remembered the circlet on her bedside table. Jaune noticed it too, and bolted over to it.

As he grasped it, he re-lived those last few minutes from Pyrrha's perspective. He saw himself being evacuated by locker, he saw her ascend to the top of the tower. He saw the fight, and the outcome. As the arrow entered, he felt pain spread throughout his body. He looked into the face of the woman who did this, then he felt the fire consume his body and release his soul.

Jaune was writhing in pain on the floor. His scream could have awoken the dead, but Ruby Rose just lay there, unresponsive. He felt a hand clasp his own and opened his eyes to see concerned lilac ones.

He bolted upright and grasped at the stump of her right arm. She grimaced at the contact, and the pain only increased as she heard him weeping. "She's going to need you fully functional when she wakes up." Said Jaune. "I won't be around when she wakes up." Then Yang passed out from the pain in her arm.

She awakened in the afternoon, and saw that Jaune wasn't there. She went downstairs and saw that he was in the garden, fully clothed again, sitting on one of the mounds and carving something out of wood. He looked at her as he noticed her approach.

He smiled. "I hate to love you and leave you, but I need to know if you can help me find the people responsible for the current state of the world. Anything you know would be helpful."

Yang rubbed her forehead as she thought about Emerald, Mercury and Cinder.

"Mistral, they said they were from Haven, it's a flimsy lead, but it's all I have. Oh Wait!" She actually slapped herself. "Junior, Hei Xiong, used to be an information broker. He might know where they are."

Jaune put his carving into a leather satchel, and stood up. "It's quite likely that these men aren't the only ones who will come for her." He said. "I'd advise you guys to keep your eyes open, but then again, I'm pretty sure that by the time this is over, you won't have to worry."

He turned to leave. "You can un-clench your fists now."

Yang looked down at her... hands?

She looked up to see that he had already disappeared, but she heard his laughter echoing from the direction he had left in.

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As Jaune made his way to Patch's ferry to Vale, the Raven landed on his shoulder.

"We are being followed, and not by someone normal." It said cryptically.

Jaune looked around, he didn't see anyone or anything out of the ordinary. He shrugged it off, the Raven must have been mistaken.

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The ferry ride back to Vale was uneventful, and the boy and his bird arrived as the sun went down.

"Hei 'Junior' Xiong. Find him, if he's here." Jaune asked the bird, who promptly took flight. Jaune on the other hand had a call to make.

"Scalped you say? I'm surprised you would go the extra mile." Said the Kaisar over his drink. Upon learning his guest had returned, the Kaisar had brought Jaune to the only functional watering hole in Vale. It had the design of a traditional tavern with a large fireplace and a stage for performances. As they talked, the sound of music gave a sense of hope to the patrons that a return to normalcy was in the cards.

 _The wheels of conflict_

 _still move and turn_

 _the day the world died_

 _nothing was learned_

"What can I say? He impressed me with his resistance to pain." Said Jaune, his drink going untouched. "The only information I gleaned was that Adam Taurus is somewhere in Mistral, near the capital."

The Kaisar stroked his beard. "I could arrange transport to the Anima continent, but no further." He took another drink. "But I heard through the grapevine that you were looking for an information broker."

 _The day the world died_

 _we kindled doom_

 _we burnt the outside_

 _took to the gloom_

"What do you have for me?" Asked Jaune. The Kaisar summoned one of the wait-staff. "I would like to speak to the manager."

The waiter nodded and rushed behind the bar.

 _And the future's a tunnel stretching endlessly_

 _into nothing, stumble in the black_

 _and the light at the end is but a treachery_

 _it will blind you and force you back_

A large, bearded man walked over to their table. "How may I help you sir?" He asked.

The Kaisar slapped Jaune on the right shoulder. "Mr Arc, this is Hei Xiong." He pulled his other hand up from under the table and pointed a very large broomhandle pistol at Junior. "And he is going to be answering all of your questions."

Junior sighed and sat down. "Remember Junior." Said the Kaisar, waving his finger at him. "I know when you are being less than truthful. Show him what happens to people who lie, Jaune."

Jaune smiled and pulled Mercury's scalp from his pocket and dropped it in front of Junior.

 _Once more we divide_

 _from peace we turn_

 _the day the world died_

 _nothing was learned_

The applause from the audience drowned out the muted shriek of horror that passed Junior's lips.

"Now tell me everything you know about Cinder and her associates." Said Jaune, watching the horror etched into Junior's features.

"The only thing I know is about Emerald Sustrai." Said Junior. "Apparently trouble is brewing in Vacuo, and a woman matching Sustrai's description has the ear of one of the government's higher ups."

"Who?" Asked Jaune.

Junior gingerly touched the hair placed in front of him. "One of the more prominent Emirs, you'd have to ask someone on the inside who it is."

"It's a start." Muttered Jaune, he noticed his host was writing something in a notebook. He grabbed Mercury's scalp and Junior took that as his cue to leave, which he did.

"Why are you helping me?" Asked Jaune.

"Do you want a lie or the truth?" Answered the Kaisar, still writing.

"Why not both?"

The Kaisar put away his notebook. "I see you as a way to help the world. Cut off the head of the snake and all that. Second, I see you as a way to benefit my nation's interests. Thirdly, I love a good revenge story."

Jaune looked at his host, gauging the truthfulness of his explanation. He accepted the man's reasoning. "I think I will work on my end of our agreement before I head to Vacuo."

The Kaisar nodded at him before explaining how the transport would work.

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"We're still being followed." Said the Raven on his shoulder, Jaune looked around the cramped interior of the small cargo plane that he was in. No-one else was around, making the Raven's claim impossible.

For the first time, Jaune was glad he was dead. As bad as the turbulence got in the bullheads, this was on another level. The rest of the hold he was in was filled with crates, limiting his ability to move, and it made for a very claustrophobic atmosphere. He was glad that his stomach no longer worked.

"How? We're the only ones here." He told the bird.

"I don't know, but it feels... Familiar, and that unsettles me." Replied the Raven.

The red light changed to green and the door opened to a tropical forest only about 30 metres below.

"Here's our stop" Said Jaune as he ran and jumped out into the canopy, the Raven spreading its wings and flying out ahead of him.

He landed in the branches of one of the trees and climbed down.

"Search for any signs of habitation, and show them to me." He told the Raven, who took off. Jaune started walking in the direction the bird had flown.

He walked for hours, the sun had set and night had passed with the only event being a small group of young grimm who didn't know to stay away from the unique negativity that was passing through their territory.

As the sun rose, a grey bird landed on one of the branches above him. Most animals ignored him, but this bird seemed to view him with something approaching curiosity. He looked at his follower.

It was a crow, with a grey body but pitch black around the head, chest and wings. He regarded it in silence for a few seconds before the Raven gave him a view of what it could see.

It was clearly a camp. And the sentries were wearing grimm masks. Even if this wasn't the main camp, he could always find where Taurus was from any information that the camp had on other cells in Mistral.

He broke away from the view and looked in the direction that the Raven was. He was about to head in that direction when he heard a noise behind him. He turned to see a person clad from head to toe in white, with a hood over their head so he couldn't see their face. Judging from their size, they were female and they were carrying a bladed spear. He could feel that this person was going to make him fight her before he could continue his quest.

"Shit."

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?

In what could only be called an infirmary, Cinder was lying in the presence of her dark mistress and the mistress's hidden blade. A man who could be remarkably subtle for how often he laughed.

"It seems that your disciple wasn't up to the task of completing a simple mission, some assassin _he_ turned out to be." Said the man.

The grimm lady turned to her wounded apprentice. "This wasn't done by a regular hunter. This was done by someone with a grudge."

"Let me find this man and end him mistress! Please?"

"No Tyrian, I want them brought to me alive. How alive that is is up to you."

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Main Anima Training Camp

"Jaune Arc is coming for me? I'm positively quivering." Said the commander. His lieutenants guffawed at the message that had been delivered to them. Adam Taurus had killed plenty of hunters, one more wouldn't make a difference.

"Find the idiot that sent this and bring him to me. He failed his mission and he sends this rather than return and face the consequences. Clearly he needs a reminder of what he fights for." Said commander Taurus. "And the soldiers need to see what the price of failure is to the revolution."

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 **Another Chapter Done.**

 **Because music was a big part of the film, I'm giving a shoutout to Miracle of Sound.**

 **Please feel free to leave a review, constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

 **Until Next Time**


	8. Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather

"Who are you?" Asked Jaune as he drew his tomahawks, he couldn't remember seeing anyone like this before, and the fact that they were in the middle of the jungle in a continent he'd never been too only worried him more. Then he remembered he was already dead and relaxed.

A few moments passed and the figure before him said nothing.

He started to back away, slowly and he still had his axes out. Every step he took backwards, the woman in front of him took one forwards. Jaune knew that this woman was dangerous, every sense he had left was screaming so. He came up with a plan.

As he backed up, he "stumbled" and looked away for a millisecond. The figure took advantage of his moment of distraction and charged. He immediately focused on the figure's torso and threw one of his axes.

Only for the woman to twist her grip on her yari and use the shaft to knock the tomahawk off course, embedding itself in a tree. She kept running towards him and swung her spear in a downwards diagonal slash that he barely managed to halt using his other axe. He grabbed her spear, but she twisted in a manner that Jaune would have expected from a dancer.

He chuckled to himself... Wardance.

His opponent's pirouette turned into a kick that nearly knocked him over. He swung his remaining axe, but for every swing the woman's lithe movements would avoid contact with the blade. He couldn't even get a hit on her.

The thought brought genuine tears to his eyes, but this person wasn't her, his angel was dead. He realised that this individual was preventing him from continuing his journey. His moment of reflection was shattered when the woman twisted around him, knocked him off his feet and impaled him from behind through his non-functioning heart over the course of about three seconds. She kept her grip on her spear, he dropped his axe, but slowly and subtly drew the knife he had at his waist. The woman let go of her spear, she had left it in such a way as to leave him mostly upright, and walked around, she seemed to pause and focus on his face. Jaune exploded forward and grabbed the woman by her left shoulder before ramming his knife as hard as he could into where the woman's throat should have been.

The woman stumbled backwards, as she did, her hood fell backwards leaving Jaune speechless. He had just stabbed someone who looked like Ruby, right down to the hair and eyes, but with one crucial difference.

She wore the same warpaint style as him.

Hers was slightly different though, it had a line that went straight down at the corner of each eye, and one line at the middle of the top of each eye that went straight upward.

Jaune eased himself off of 'Ruby's' yari, whilst she pulled the knife out of her throat and quickly removed her hood and cape before she started bleeding all over it.

"Who _were_ you?" Asked Jaune.

The woman began crying "I don't know, I can't remember." Her voice was much lower pitched than such a small-framed woman would suggest.

"She has forgotten" Said the Raven, it having returned and now perched on a branch above them. "She has been like this for a very long time, she only knows what is familiar. The mask, the unique *smell* of negativity. She had her guide taken from her very early on, now she is lost and alone. Normally she would wander Remnant forever, but it seems that she had the luck of finding a kindred spirit. We can help her."

Jaune stared at the woman's shaking form before picking her hood up and walking over to her, as he did so he saw some of her memories. Wrapping his arms around her,. He saw a team of friends just like his, he saw a man with a tempting looking ponytail as he stabbed her between the ribs with a pair of wrist blades. He finally gleaned her name as a lanky, unkempt, dark haired man wept as he held her dying form.

Summer... Her name is Summer.

Summer had calmed down, and she handed him his knife back. As he grabbed his axes he turned toward Summer "We share a common enemy, I seek the man who killed you as well as the devil he serves. Once they are all dead, we can pass on once and for all. Will you join me in purging the demons? He asked as he extended his right hand. Summer smiled, a sadistic grin lit up her features as she took his hand. "Promise me it won't be quick and clean like it was for me. I want him to suffer for what he's done. Him and his loathsome mistress."

Jaune's face took up a similar, malicious glee as he answered "I wouldn't have it any other way."

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Night had fallen on Anima and the air was peaceful, the White Fang camp that nestled in a small clearing was on the outskirts of the territory that they had secured. They needed a safe haven to rest, resupply and plot the downfall of civilisation.

Only for one of the sentries to drag himself up to the camp, screaming in agony. The other sentries ran to grab him, only to see that the back of his uniform had been torn and a message had been carved into his flesh:

 **WHERE'S TAURUS?**

Then a lone figure literally swaggered into the light.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Said the figure, loudly "Could you please direct me to my _good friend_ Adam Taurus? I have need of him."

At this point the entire camp was awake, all of them armed and watching the man who stood fearlessly in front of them, it was going to be a one-sided bloodbath.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Yelled the camp's commander, a tiger faunus.

"I'm Hansel." Came the reply. Then they heard a clicking sound behind them.

"And I'm Gretel" Came a voice from behind them. Some of them turned around and saw a woman cradling a multi-rocket launcher in her arms.

"Shit" Said the commander, before the woman blew most of the camp's denizens into meaty chunks. The commander only lost his lower left leg, but he was lucky. On the ground around him were the remains of over two dozen fighters, there was maybe enough left of them to fill three coffins. Including his own it seemed, as the man in front of him threw one of his axes unceremoniously into the camp's fire and pulled a knife from his waist before kneeling over his fallen form.

"If you tell us where he is, I will cauterise the wound and you might live, if you don't, I'll make sure your last moments will last forever." Said the man. To the legless commander, he looked like Remnant's nastiest juggalo. "Or" The man continued "I could just let Talon over there have you" He leaned in conspiratorially before whispering "She's not as nice as me." He grinned as he leaned back, before sitting down at the commander's side.

The pain from his leg was... Excruciating, he would give anything to make it stop, but if Adam ever found out who talked, he'd be dead in hours... What the hell, a few hours would give him enough time to come up with a plan, and there were some recon vehicles in the camp.

"The commander and other higher ups move between the larger camps every 48 hours. There's about... 14 major camps in this territory, Idon't know where Taurus is right now, but they did just leave the river encampment." Gasped the commander "If you want to catch him, I'd guess the base that works out of the old copper mine, stay out of sight for as long as possible, and take out some of the sentries and patrols if you want the best shot." The commander was starting to pass out. "Make him suffer, not all of us... supported... him.. Lilly..." The commander trailed off into unconciousness.

Jaune, or Raven as they had agreed on the codename. Strode over to the fire and pulled his axe out of it. The blade glowed an orange colour as he strode over to the commander and grabbed his destroyed leg. "Someone's in for a rude awakening" He smiled as he pressed the flat of the axe to the bleeding stump.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRHHHHHHHHH" Screamed the commander.

"Thank you for your assistance!" Said Jaune jovially, as he and 'Talon' walked out of the camp, leaving the commander squirming and clutching his sealed stump.

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It took them about two hours to climb atop the cliffs that loomed over the mine base. The Raven and Summer's 'ability' allowed them to get close enough to scout for any sign of Taurus. That's when the Raven saw a faunus in a commando's uniform chained in a spread-eagle position over a boulder at the mine's entrance. It seemed that Adam had got the message.

They re-grouped and discussed their options.

"The way I see it, we've got two options" Said Jaune "We can either assault the mine directly, and hope that we can catch Taurus. Or, we an find some way to draw him out, and ambush him."

"What makes you think he's even there? I couldn't see any sight of him." Asked Summer.

"The man chained to the rocks confirmed it, Taurus is vindictive enough to not let something, or someone, go." He remembered what Yang had seen before the White Fang leader had taken her arm, a man who put obsessive pschotic stalkers to shame. "I'd prefer the ambush strategy, attacking a mine seems like a bad idea, any insurgent group worth their salt would already have escape tunnels dug and ready."

"I agree" Said Summer, standing up "Do you have a plan"

Jaune merely grinned

"First we find a road or track, one that they use for vehice traffic.."

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The trap was set, they'd seen a troop convoy. No more than three vehicles; two humvees and a troop transport truck. At the end of a particularly bumpy stretch of road, they'd cut a tree down and placed it in a way that would require the vehicles to stop.

The truck was in the middle, and Jaune watched from the canopy as the convoy approached.

He jumped, his luck holding as the dirt track hadn't evened out as he landed, the driver merely thinking the impact had just been from the road.

Keeping flat on his belly on the roof, he crawled toward the drivers cabin.

Less than a kilometre to go...

After he pulled out his gun, he swung through the side door window, his coat somehow not catching on the broken glass and he landed next to the driver. Pressing the gun to the side of the driver's head, he reached over and pulled out the man's sidearm from its holster. He also undid the driver's seatbelt before doing up his own.

"Don't mind me" He said, watchibng the man, who dutifully kept his eyes on the road "I just really needed a ride."

"Do you have any ide-"

*click*

"Drive faster"

The driver obeyed, and Jaune could see the sweat starting to form on his brow.

Five hundred metres...

"Faster"

They were almost right behind the humvee in front of them, suddenly the humvee started to slow down...

Only to have a large truck plow into it from behind before they both crashed into the tree trunk that blocked the road.

Because this was an older truck, the driver went through the windshield and into the maelstrom of twisted metal and broken glass that was both of the wrecks. He was killed instantly.

"And that, children, is why you always wear your seatbelt." Said Jaune, giggling to himself as he exited what remained of the cabin, onto one of the grunts that had crawled out of the mangled humvee. He was sheepishly dragging himself away before he felt Jaune's boot on his spine.

The last thing he heard was the gunshot as the back of his head was opened like an egg.

Jaune felt the bullets enter his flesh before he heard the gunshots as he saw the people in the second humvee had caught up and were dealing with him.

He turned to face them and fell backwards as the blood began to flow from his wounds, it still hurt like hell, even if it couldn't kill him. When the shots ceased and the rain started, he could feel the wounds closing. That was when he felt the most alive, the healing felt more intoxicating than any pleasure he had experienced, even more than the cocktail of elephant grade painkillers they'd loaded him up with before he died.

He could hear footsteps as two figures walked up to his body, when they got really close he sprung upwards. He wrapped one arm around the closest one and brought his pistol up to the man's mouth. He twisted the man's head in the direction of his comrade before he pulled the trigger. The other faunus was covered in the back of the grunt's head and then she heard two more shots as bullets ripped through her flesh. She fell backwards into a ditch.

Jaune reloaded before running to the intact humvee, the driver had gotten out and had drawn his sword, what a day for the radio to be busted.

He charged the dark figure, but ripped as the ground turned to mud beneath his feet. The dark figure had hostered his pistol and had pulled out... an axe?

Before another thought could enter his head, the figure turned and threw it... right into his skull.

Jaune opened up the back of the truck, only a couple of the men inside were still moving. His tomahawks quickly put a stop to that.

Then he felt a cold sensation at his throat.

"I got you now, motherfucker" Came a male voice dripping with pride "I might get promoted just for stopping you."

"Yeah" Said Jaune "About that..."

Then they both felt an incredibly painful sensation as as Jaune looked forward and saw the tip of Summer's yari emerging from his throat. The gurgling sound from behind him indicated that her spear had found its mark.

As she withdrew it from both him and the grunt, she couldn't help herself.

"Now we're even"

Jaune wouldn't rise to her response, it seemed that Yang did inherit something from her stepmother.

"That all of them?"

"Yup" Came the reply, complete with popped P.

"Then let's get to work"

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Iodine had not been having a good day. She had been on a routine redeployment to a non-combatant position and she somehow got shot twice. Thank the gods she was tougher than the others, being an armadillo faunus did have its perks. Still hurt like a bitch though.

When she limped up to the mine, she noticed that a couple of the sentries were tending to a traitor. They were re-opening his wounds. A harsh but not unwaranted punishment for those who turn away from the cause. As the spear went in, she was reminded of her youth, a bright eyed student who just wanted to help people, she'd wanted to be a doctor.

But because of her traits she had been thrown out for "theft" just because she'd had the gall to stand up to one of her bullies, they weren't even subtle about it.

Now here she was, having taken bullets for the cause. She got their attention, and within minutes, she was patched up and seated in front of Adam Taurus. Looking at him, she remembered her sister in Vale... Wondered for a moment if she was still alive.

"Tell the commander what you told me" Said the sentry who'd led her in.

"A demon." She said "Seven feet tall, lighning quick and entirely lethal. I was the only one in the convoy who made it out."

"Were they a human?"

Another sentry burst into the room.

"Commander Taurus!" He shouted before saluting "There's smoke on the horizon!"

"It seems as though our position may be compromised." Mused Adam "We should investigate and... enlighten the idiot who thought that lighting a fire in our territory was a good idea."

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The first thing that they noticed was the smell, an awful smell of rotting meat. It seemed to be coming from further into the jungle, and the pillar of smoke seemed to corroborate that theory. There was about a dozen of Adam's elites as well as the faunus himself. When they found the spot that the ambush had happened at, they weren't disappointed.

But as they were looking around the wreckage, they noticed two things; there were no corpses, and there was a spot along the side of the track that the jungle seemed to part. As if a number of people had used it as a doorway. He drew his sword and stuck it through, probing for traps before stepping into the jungle. His eletis followed behind him.

After about a minute and a half it started raining again, the rain fell onto their faces, but instead of sweet water, the rain smelled of blood and acid. Looking upwards, they noticed the criss crossing of grey ropes that were strung through the trees.

Those weren't ropes.

"It seems we've found sister Iodine's convoy" Said Adam as he moved forward he came face to face with one of the fallen, his head had been nailed to a tree. They started hearing screams, coming from the direction of the smoke pillar. Whoever had done this was a threat that the White Fang could not ignore.

As they moved onward, more grisly sights greeted them. More heads had been nailed to the trees, guts were strung through the canopy. One grunt had had his belly opened and had been tied to one of the trees by his intestines. The convoy commander had had his tongue cut out before his mouth had been sewn shut. Another grunt had each and every bone in his body broken, before all of his teeth had been extracted manually.

As they approached the source of the smoke, they noticed piles of severed limbs, and torsos that had been impaled on branches. As they entered a clearing nearby to a single great tree, they finally saw the bonfire. By this point all of Adam's bodyguards were feeling very ill at what they'd seen. Then they saw a figure with his back to them, he was holding up one of the remaining bodies, the fact it was still twitching and whimpering wasn't missed by them. As the body was thrown into the fire, the survivor began screaming.

The screaming continued as the figure turned to face them, the unnatural smile and the smell of burning flesh convinced them that this was the demon that they'd been told about.

"Adam Taurus!" Shouted the figure. "You made a deal with the devil, now for your end of the bargain!"

Adam's bodyguards looked at him, a deal with the devil? What the?

Suddenly the entrance to the clearing was blocked off as a large tree trunk blocked their path of entry. The only way out now was through this... thing.

"Gentlemen!" Shouted the Raven, jovially "I offer you one chance for survival, surrender. Think carefully, this offer is for a... limited time only."

When none of the bodyguards lowered their weapons, Jaune sighed.

"Well, I can't fault your loyalty. Talon?"

The answer came in the form of a spear impaling the bodygaurd at the back of the group, as his life drained away, a melee broke out between Talon and the white fang elites. Adam however kept his eyes on the man in front of him, he noticed the Raven pull a stick out of one of his coat pockets and throw it into the fire.

Drawing his tomahawks, Jaune threw himself into the fray, making sure to avoid any counter attack, even as he knew Adam was charging up for a killing blow. He knew it was only a matter of time.

Summer... Talon, was having a ball, these "Elites" were so slow, she could duck and weave as if they were fighting underwater, and then stab or slash them when they overextended themselves. They fell like flies, as she impaled the last one through the abdomen, she saw Taurus finally unleash his killing blow.

By running Jaune through.

Instead of the look of shock that Adam had been expecting, his opponent dropped one of his axes and grabbed his hand, still clasped around the sword's handle. Then he brought the other axe down.

And severed his right hand.

He felt...cold and pain, erupt from his stump, he tried to grab his pistol, but that was being waved in front of his face by the Raven's companion. Then he felt her spear slide through his other arm, and a knife emerge just below his left kneecap.

"Remember Talon, we need this one alive." He looked Adam in the mask, before ripping it off.

"Huh, I assumed you would've at least had a scar or something." Said Jaune "No matter, we have plenty of time before your escort arrives."

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For the first time since he had joined the fang, Adam felt fear. He couldn't move much of his body, but he felt that things were only going to get worse.

He was right.

He was forced to watch as they carried the bodies of his comrades, living and dead, and threw them into the fire. The smell of roasting flesh and the screams of the living turned his stomach. As they were doing this, Talon would break off every so often just to use her knife to cut him, just a couple of centimetres each time. By the time the task was complete, he was covered in smal cuts that had stopped healing, his aura having run out.

That's when he noticed that the flames had changed colour to a vibrant purple, with smoke to match.

Pinned to a tree by his limbs, he had thought he was going to die here. Damn that bitch Cinder Fall, and damn her plans.

"Wakey, wakey mister Taurus" Sang the woman, Talon he had learned her name was. "Our only task was to bring you back alive, but we also need some information out of you."

Keep them ocupied, it would give time for help to arrive.

"What do you want to know?" He asked, coal black eyes meeting silver.

"I want to know everything about your associates, white fang leadership." She drew out her knife "Cinder and her people" She said, running the knife over his hairline "Everybody" She gently cut a line about an inch long on his cheek.

"I will never betray my brothers and sisters. I'd sooner die!"

"Hard way it is then" Said the man, Raven was his name.

He pulled out a pair of bloodstained boltcutters and strode over. He looked over Adam critically before he grabbed his remaining hand, and broke three of his fingers.

Adam reacted, but Raven knew he'd have to further encourage the faunus to talk. He raised the cutters up over Adam's head.

"Eeeny-Meeny-Miney-MOE!" He screamed as he grabbed Adam's head and cut off his left horn.

Adam cried out in pain, clearly unused to being on the receiving end of torture. The blood began to matt in his hair and he was asked again.

"Who and where is the supreme leader of the white fang?"

"Sienna Khan!" He moaned "I don't know where she is."

"Liar" Came the rsesponse and he felt the boltcutters against his other horn.

"VACUO" He screamed "She's in Vacuo, hiding out in the north, tribal territory!"

He felt the tool leave his other horn. He exhaled in relief. Only to feel his face being grabbed.

"And Fall? TELL ME ABOUT CINDER FALL!" Raven screamed at him.

"She disappeared after the battle, she was my only contact, and we haven't met since. That's all I know."

"Do you know what you've done?" Said Raven, not letting go of Adam's face "You destroyed so much, thousands dead, millions wounded. An entire kingdom brought to its knees. You killed civillian and soldier alike. Men, women and children, faunus and human alike. You've taken from so many, time to take something from you."

Jaune pulled his knife out and pulled Adam's eyelids back.

The screams he uttered were music to Jaune's ears, Summer's too. Jaune had told her what he had done to Yang.

With his right eye removed, Jaune made sure to wave it in front of his face before it was thrown into the fire. Then he pulled his knife out and stuck it into his left eye. Making sure to twist it to the point he was sure the optic nerve had been damaged.

Then he pulled the knife ouh and wiped it clean on Adam's cheeks. Then he moved back up to his hairline. The horns made the excision of Adam's scalp a bit difficult, but Jaune made sure to cut around both the surviving horn and the stump of the one he'd cut off. As he gently pulled the terrorist's hair away, he heard a high pitched whistling behind him.

He turned around to see a man wearing a white suit and a red and white screaming demon mask.

"I can take him from here" He said "The Kaisar has more information for you."

Jaune placed Adam's pelt in the same pocket as Mercury's, before turning to Summer.

"Fancy a trip to Vacuo?"

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 **Another long chapter! Yay!**

 **Okay, so it's been awhile, and unfortunately I still can't guarantee updates being any more frequent, but I think I'm getting better at writing action scenes.**

 **Am I right or am I talking a load of old shite?**

 **All the same, I will be getting some free time in a week or so, so maybe more updates coming soon.**

 **Please feel free to leave a review, almost 100 follows, so if you could fave/follow that'd be awesome.**

 **'Til next time.**


	9. Carnival of Sorrows

**Notes: Yes, for once there are notes first, I CAN do something different! So this is another chapter without much in the way of violence, I'm trying my hand at world-building. I also did some editing of earlier chapters for spelling mistakes and to alter some lines to explain things better.**

 **There's also a rather long-winded rant on a variety of RWBY or RWBY-related topics at the bottom. Feel free to skip or read, I'm not your boss. Oh! And I suppose I should also mention:**

 **Trigger Warning: Self-harm and Suicide**

Carnival of Sorrows

It was the theft of the white fang camp's horses that sped their journey to Mistral City's port as much as it did, their masked associate wasn't much help. As soon as they turned their backs, the snarling demon masked man and his prisoner disappeared, leaving them in the middle of the dockyards.

Once they found a way to Vale, they spent the 2-week long journey trying to learn and understand Summer's powers. Summer, or Talon as she named herself on the job, could transform into a hooded bird, had faster reflexes and was in general faster than Jaune. On the downside, she had almost no memory at all, she had no tactile empathy or psychometry, little remained of the woman she once was. Jaune could feel that maybe her flesh could remember, but her mind did not. A sort of emotional memory without logic. In return, she taught Jaune many things about fighting, especially the grimm, something from her past that she did seem to remember.

As they pulled in, dusk was settling on the city. The city seemed more alive than before, power had been restored to most of the buildings, and it even looked like some sort of festival was under way.

Oddly enough, there was a welcoming figure waiting for them at the end of the pier. A very old man was waiting for them, cloaked in worn and faded dark grey robes and clasping a gnarled wooden staff as a walking stick. His milky white irises told Jaune that the man in front of him was blind, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the man before him could see more than Jaune could.

"It is said that when the dead walk again, things have truly taken a turn for the worse" He rasped, his bushy beard moved as he smiled. "Days grow colder, the dead walk again. All this points towards the end, the final battle."

The dead pair stared at him as he continued speaking "The dark mistress on her ruined throne cannot ignore the transgressions of the dead. Already her hands make their way towards you, ruin in their wake. One with a sword, one with a smile.

Summer gazed at the old man before them. "What do you know of the dark lady?"

The old man smiled "I know she's no lady for a start!" At this he began laughing.

"Where are my manners? You may call me Papa, everyone else does. When Kaisar Siegfried told me he now had an ally amongst the dead, I grew worried. Now I see what he meant"

"You join us on one of our most important days" He said, walking towards the city proper, beckoning for them to follow. "The Carnival of Sorrows gives a respite from the Heroisch Gellasenheit, Heroic Calm. Each of the tribes gets a day to grieve, mourn, argue, fight and generally make a tremendous amount of negative energy. Whilst this happens, the other tribes mark the day as a celebration of all the good things that have happened."

"Interesting tradition, but I can't help thinking that he doesn't need the walking stick" Said the Raven.

"It's not polite to talk behind a person's back you know." Said Papa.

"Interesting, the eyes do not see, but they observe" Said the Raven.

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As they made their way into the city, Papa explained that tonight was the night for the Kaisar's tribe, the Gothars, to grieve and rage. As they moved in the direction of city's the main plaza, they noticed that in the outer areas of the city, everyone was partying like there was no tomorrow; street food and musical concerts seemed to be on every street, one in particular caught the Raven's attention, and they paused for a time to listen.

 _"Don't look don't look" the shadows breathe  
Whispering me away from you  
"Don't wake at night to watch her sleep  
You know that you will always lose  
This trembling  
Adored  
Tousled bird mad girl"  
But every night I burn  
But every night I call your name  
Every night I burn  
Every night I fall again_

 _"Oh don't talk of love" the shadows purr  
Murmuring me away from you  
"Don't talk of worlds that never were  
The end is all that's ever true  
There's nothing you can ever say  
Nothing you can ever do"  
Still every night I burn  
Every night I scream your name  
Every night I burn  
Every night the dream's the same  
Every night I burn  
Waiting for my only friend  
Every night I burn  
Waiting for the world to end_

 _"Just paint your face" the shadows smile  
Slipping me away from you  
"Oh it doesn't matter how you hide  
Find you if we're wanting to  
So slide back down and close your eyes  
Sleep a while  
You must be tired"  
But every night I burn  
Every night I call your name  
Every night I burn  
Every night I fall again  
Every night I burn  
Scream the animal scream  
Every night I burn_  
 _Dream the crow black dream_

 _Dream the crow black dream_

"Something... Familiar" It said sadly.

As they neared the main public space, they noticed that the revelry was replaced with people gathered into groups. They were weeping, shouting and occasionally fighting. Both Jaune and Summer could feel the anger and sorrow in the air, it reminded them of their own path.

Another thing Jaune noticed was that the people all gazed on Papa like he was some sort of divine figure, people would bow and remove their hats as soon as they saw him.

As they entered the plaza, they saw the Kaisar's tent was open and stepped inside.

They saw him dancing with a young woman, the woman Jaune had seen before, in the Kaisar's memories. She was what could be considered a classic beauty; pale skin, long blonde hair and vibrant green eyes that reminded him of... No, now is not the time to remember, now is the time for action! He marched up to the dancing couple and tried to get the Kaisar's attention.

He was enraptured with the woman in front of him. "It won't work" The Raven told him, before showing him what it could see.

The Kaisar was lying on the ground, wearing nothing but a flimsy loincloth, his right arm pointing upwards, making circular motions. Off to the side was a figure draped in grey, wearing a veil. Jaune walked over to her.

"This is his sorrow" She said "He gets like this every year now. He wanted to give you this" She gestured to a scroll that was lying on a desk "In case you returned when you couldn't reach him."

The image from before changed, no longer was the couple dancing, but now the man on the ground was on his knees, begging the gods to heal the one he loved. She was bedridden, but Jaune didn't see her face before the image changed again to the Kaisar bound at the wrists, a combat knife through both his palms. Jaune saw him pull his wrist apart, before sawing through the ropes that bound him. The next image showed him walking into a room that looked like some sort of temple, whereupon he began killing men with guns before a pale man with one eye emerged.

The fight between the two men was more of a beatdown than anything else, the Kaisar kept hitting and kicking the one-eyed man who refused to put up any sort of fight. The next image showed that the Kaisar had nailed the one-eyed man to the temple's symbol; a cross. They spoke in a language Jaune didn't understand before the Kaisar grabbed the man's head and carefully cut out his remaining eye. The eye was put in a small jar, and the Kaisar drew his pistol and shot the man 5 times in the chest before finishing with two headshots.

Jaune looked at the dead man on the cross. "Did he deserve it?"

The woman turned away before removing her veil. Her face was a mass of bruises, burnt tissue and bleeding wounds. "He certainly thought so." She looked at the Kaisar "The curse of being a psychic is that once you make a strong enough connection to someone, when they die, a part of them is kept, forever."

It was then that Jaune noticed the one-eyed man from before was in chains in the opposite corner of the room.

"It doesn't matter if the connection was good or bad, only how strong it was."

Jaune grabbed the scroll of the desk, immediately his mind was flooded with images and memories of _her_. Pyrrha.

"There's a message on there for you" The woman informed him.

He walked out of the tent, he needed to see this alone.

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Outside the tent he walked in the direction of the academy's ruins. It was as if some sort of force was pulling him there.

He passed back into the carnival from the sorrows and a commotion grabbed his attention. A group of very fat, but also very muscular, men were gathering around a small girl. Everyone involved had orange hair, so Jaune ran up to the group and grabbed the girl. Heaving her over his shoulder he legged it into a side street.

He could hear the men chasing him, so he ran into a dead-end alley. He somehow managed to climb up the side of one of the buildings with the girl still over his shoulder. Once he was up the top, he heard the girl speak.

"I don't know why they were so upset, I can't help myself around street pancakes."

Oh no. He turned away and tried to hide his face.

"But thanks for saving me." Nora walked up to him and looked up at his face.

"Are you supposed to be some sort of clown?" She asked. He looked at her, she still seemed to have her spark, albeit dimmer than before.

He smirked "Sometimes"

She struck a dramatic pose "Well Mr Clown, you saved the damsel in distress. My hero."

He smiled at her antics, good old Nora. "Neat" He said.

She turned away from him, looking for a way down from the roof. They weren't too high up, only about five storeys.

"I always wanted to be a hero."

She recognised the voice. "Jaune?"

She turned to look at him, but the rooftop was now deserted.

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The academy's ruins were eerily deserted, even the monsters largely left him alone. Those that didn't were dispatched quickly.

As he ascended the stairs of the dorm building, he could feel… so much loss. Every hallway and wall somehow seemed to contain memories.

The door to JNPR's room had been left open, on closer inspection it didn't lock properly anymore anyway. He walked through the ruined room, all of their possessions were just as they had left them, months ago. From the now dead potted plant he'd tried to grow by the window to the broken window itself. Glass crackled under his boots.

His bed was still made, and he climbed on top of the now mouldy covers. He brought out… _her_ scroll and opened the recent files tab.

A few hours before the fall, there was a video, marked 'For Jaune'

He pressed play.

A sight that brought both sorrow and joy beyond belief greeted him. Pyrrha's face.

"Alright, Jaune, just like we practiced. Follow these instructions. Shield up."

Tears pricked the corners of his vision.

"Keep your grip tight."

He started sobbing.

"Don't forget to keep your front foot forward."

He drew his knife.

"Ready? Go."

One long, one small semicircle, long, long, long.

"Again!"

He did so.

"And again."

He did it again, blood sluggishly began running down his left arm and hand.

"Okay. Now assuming _you aren't cheating,_ we can take a break."

Through the tears, he grabbed the scroll again, he stroked the image's face.

"I know this can be frustrating… and it can feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount, but I want you to know that I'm proud of you. I've never met someone so determined to better themselves. You've grown so much since we started training."

He kept sobbing, she knew, and she still went.

"And I know this is just the beginning."

Because he had been too weak. He drew his pistol.

"Jaune, I-I… I want you to know that I'm just happy to be a part of your life. I'll always be here for you, Jaune."

Through his sobs, he managed to utter "I wasn't there for you when you needed me, I failed you. I let you die."

He inserted the gun into his mouth. The cordite taste of gunpowder greeted him as he pulled the trigger.

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 **I do genuinely love The Cure, but for the most Crow musical experience, I recommend the 'Fear and Bullets' Album by Trust Obey. It really is something else.**

 **So, yeah. I know the time for this was years ago, but I just feel the need to rant. Feel free to skip this, there's an omake after this, just skip until after the bold.**

 **I got into RWBY just before volume 3 appeared, and Arkos was the only ship that I supported. Wishing no offence to other shippers, I just don't see any of the others working (except possibly Blacksun). So to have my OTP killed off in a way that literally made me sick, made me sick. I tried watching volume 4, but I was sufficiently unimpressed with the scene in the blacksmith (the line "Dude, People are** _ **Dead**_ **now!" sprung to mind), that I couldn't watch anymore. So I haven't, I've been out since halfway through volume 4.**

 **This brings me to the next part of my rant: RWBY is very poorly paced. I'm calling it all payoff and no setup. Everything has to be bigger than before, there's little to no simmer down period between the action set pieces.**

 **Giving Pyrrha the maidens powers made no sense. What kind of sense does it make to give "secret" superpowers to a girl so famous that she had to move countries to have any kind of normal life, away from the fame.**

 **One of the things that brought me to RWBY fanfiction is that the world building in the first two seasons was a joke. I and just about every writer I've ever seen has done more to create a living world than what the actual creators have done. On that note, any and all works I write won't be following canon very closely. The same was with Jaune, he was a blank slate and an audience surrogate. He was there to introduce the world and key concepts to (Which makes the recent wave of NTR fics that have popped up of late even more weird and creepy). On that note, because we had all been supposedly brought up to speed, wouldn't killing Jaune have made more sense? I can only think of one conversation that Ruby and Pyrrha shared (Where we learn Pyrrha's semblance), whilst Jaune at least had a shown rapport with almost everyone. It would have made his death an ideal motivator for everyone.**

 **My biggest problem is that volume three had plot holes and gave us major character deaths that THEY HADN'T EARNED. So, I'm out, I'm no longer watching RWBY but I'm sticking with the fandom. You guys are awesome, well except when…**

 **NTR fics. Where do I even start with this? There are fetishes that I don't get. But this is on a whole other level. I didn't know what NTR was before this fandom showed me. The fact that they are all centred around the same couple kinda puts the kibosh in the argument that it's for a kink. I call bullshit. Then there's the problem with them having become a form of bullying, to the point where they interfere with other writers. As long as they are clearly labelled as NTR, I couldn't care less. But when people are writing them "for" people who didn't ask for them, I've gotta ask. Who hurt you? Who hurt you, NTR writers? The fact that the writer Solvdrage has put his fics on hold because of this nonsense means that I, as a consumer of Solvdrage's work has been directly harmed by NTR. Which is why I'm asking you all to never read NTR willingly, and to downvote and ignore those works when they appear. Also please give Solvdrage's work some love, and feel free to mention that I'm on his side and so are you.**

 **I think that that's everything. If you've read all that and got this far, well done, have an internet point. Am I right? Am I wrong? Am I a solution looking for a problem? Am I..? I dunno, it's late and I'm tired. Feel free to give me your thoughts in the reviews section (Seriously, I read all of them, and they are how I measure my worth as a writer at the moment) . Also Follow/Favourite if you want (I'd really appreciate it).**

 **I love looking at the traffic graphs for this story, shout outs to all the places that I've had to look up (Looking at you, Aruba) and all the other places too (Thanks America, you make up the bulk of my viewers).**

 **Before I forget again, there's a curious lack of artworks of Jaune as the Crow. I'd like for something other than a blank image for the fic's cover. So, if one of you lovely, good-at-art people could make an awesome cover for this, that'd be awesome. And worth like… 20 Internet points.**

 **Cheers,**

 **Aun'El Zen**

Omake:

It was an odd day for Adam. After the Kaisar's pet freak had remade his body, he had been put in a cage and given regular beatings. Now he was outside of the cage, and the unlucky bastard he was strangling was going to suffer. He put all of his anger into this, all of his frustration. The racism, the fight, Blake and the aftermath of the attack on Beacon. All of it. He could feel the life leaving his former captor, but Adam wanted to see the light leave the man's eyes.

Suddenly he was hit with a bad headache. He dropped the man and grabbed at his eyes. When he opened them again, he was surrounded by darkness.

"It is enough." Came a voice. "Who? Who's there?" Said Adam. "Just us." "Who are you?" Said Adam. From behind came a voice that momentarily made his blood run cold. "I am, who I have always been." "Father?" It was his father's deathbed, he couldn't have been much older than nine when his father went out with some other men to defend their homes from the pogrom. The next morning, they found them all hanging from a large tree in the middle of the district. The lynching had been poor enough that it took almost three days for his father to die. Gripping his hand, his father gave him his dying words. "It is too late for me, Adam. It is not too late for you. Honour my name... Honour our name." His grip went slack. "No!" Adam felt like he had lost him all over again "We are a dying people, Adam. So are the Humans. Obsessed with each other's death until death is all we can see, and death is all we deserve." Adam turned around to see the voice from before was coming out of an extremely aged wolf Faunus, shorter than him, but not unusually so. "The Humans started it." He retorted. The old Faunus looked at him, his eyes held a fire that Adam couldn't tell if it was anger or sorrow or something else. "And will you continue? Until there are no more Faunus and no more Humans? If both sides are dead, no one will care which side deserves the blame. It no longer matters who started it, Adam. It only matters who is suffering." Adam shook his head. "No. No, I have an obligation to honour my father's name." "And how have you chosen to honour that name? What is there left for Faunus if all of creation falls around us? There is nothing. No hope, no dream, no future, no life. Unless we turn from the cycle of death toward something greater. If we are a dying people let us die with honour by helping the others as no one else can." Adam looked at him again. "I don't understand." The old Faunus reached forward and grabbed Adam's right hand with both of his own. "Because you have let them distract you, blind you with hate. You cannot see the battle for what it is. We are fighting to save one another. We must realize we are not alone. We rise and fall together. And some of us must be sacrificed, if all are to be saved. Because if we fail in this, then none of us will be saved, and the Faunus will be only a memory." Suddenly Adam was alone again, the old man in front of him had disappeared from sight, but he could still hear his voice speaking to him from the darkness that surrounded him. "You have the opportunity, here and now, to choose. To become something greater and nobler and more difficult than you have been before. The universe does not offer such chances often, Adam." "Why now? Why not earlier? All this time, where have you been?" "I have always been here." Adam turned around and saw... An angel, wings and all. The old Faunus was smiling at him whilst clothed in pure light. Adam shielded his eyes as the angel disappeared. He opened them again and looked around him. The guard was still breathing. Adam ran, he escaped. His path was clear now. Blake had been right from the start. That knowledge only made his tears more regretful. The Kaisar stepped back into the shadows. 


End file.
